AEHRA is Italys only electric car startup, and its secret sauce is aerodynamics.
I spoke to AEHRAs CEO and co-founder, Hazim Nada, to find out more.
Nada tells me:
Were not an automobile company.
Were an energy transition company.
These cars wont look like anything else.
We dont see anybody doing what were doing.
Were addressing a question as to whether electric vehicles need to continue to look the way they do.
The company is critical of wasted space in existingEVsthrough, for example, large bonnets.
Can we expect something more streamlined but snub-nosed?
Italys first EV
I was shocked that AEHRA is making Italys first standalone EV.
Nada explains, We see European brands being lost in the EV segment.
Chinese automaker Silk-FAW is currently at work building hybrid and electric luxury sports carsin Italy.
Thats a lot of skill which is benefitting automakers outside of the country.
Nada and his team thought, This is crazy.
Theres so much know-how.
Why is there not a single standalone company pushing local EVs?
Thats really one of the core reasons that gave us the confidence to push our products.
Ex-Lamborghini Chief Designer Filippo Perini is AEHRAs Chief Design Officer.
Stefano Mazzetti from Ferrari leads AEHRAs Purchasing and Procurement.
The companys not making its vehicles itself but is utilising European partners and contract manufacturers.
Nada details the challenges of securing materials suppliers as an untested brand.
Therefore AEHRAs release needs to coincide with a mass expansion of private and public charging networks.
But AEHRA is focused on the luxury market, intending to launch lower-priced vehicles in the future.
Their 800km battery range stacks up well against their competitors.
TheFresco XLpromises a single charge range of 1,000km.
Do luxury EV-buyers welcome newcomers?
The question remains whether AEHRA can gain market traction to fulfil its ambitions.
Are people willing to order a luxury vehicle from an unheard-of brand?
Im also curious what impact the recent election of a right-wing party will have on EV making.
Last month, right-wing politician Matteo Salvinicalled fora referendum on the banning of ICE vehicle manufacturing by 2035.
Will the government reduce the VAT on EVs and increase subsidies in the next decade?
According to Nada, the planned luxury electric cars will start at between 150,000 and 180,000.
AEHRA aims to manufacture 25,000 vehicles annually.
If AEHRA succeeds, itll change the Italian automaking landscape for good.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
