I have heard that “art” is only art when it exists for no other purpose than itself. Whatever that means. Similarly, there are cars, like the Bugatti Veyron, that exist for no other reason than they can exist. I mean really, who needs to spend $1.6 million on a 1,000 horsepower car? You could easily build a 1,000 horsepower car for under $100,000 these days!

Forget the Veyron though. Bugatti is apparently developing an all-electric luxury car, based on the Bentley Continental GT, that would rival the Veyron in horsepower and excess.

According to Auto Express, a prototype vehicle has already been built by Bugatti. The working prototype is powered by two powerful electric motors putting out 800 horsepower and a building-bending 1,600 ft-lbs of torque. Who, outside of heavy-equipment operators, needs that kind of torque?

Apparently just the super-wealthy. Advanced lithium-ion battery packs provide power for this electric beast. Still, according to Auto Express’ sources, if the car is run flat-out, the battery drains in a “matter of minutes.” The prototype is apparently being designed to give engineers a platform to practice electric propulsion technology on, though it is unclear at this point if the vehicle will ever see anything nearing “production” — if that’s the word you use for ultra-expensive Bugattis.

Bugatti has built electric cars before. The Type 56 was built by founder Ettore Bugatti, and while that vehicle was also never slated for production, customer demand brought it to the public. Could the same thing happen with a new generation of electric Bugattis?

Reprinted with permission from Gas 2.0