At 2022, the Elektron Motors company introduced it’s electric supercarbefore physical production begins, the Elektron One, which boastedeye-watering 1,341 bhp (1,000 kilowatts) from its zero-emission propulsion. Itwas supposed to debut in the metal at the Geneva Motor Show, but unfortunatelythat never happened.
As for theElektron One, the CEO of the company said that it's not cancelled but ratherpostponed. Those who have been waiting for the official launch of the lesspowerful Elektron will have to wait until the Quasar's launch, so let's justsay stay tuned. Quasar has a completely new design and is not a replacement forOne.
Now calledElektron Motors, another concept from the German-based company has beenpreviewed in an official release. Meet the Elektron Quasar also an all-electrichyper car that makes way more than the first previewed model. Butthis time, the dream came true and Quasar is waiting for lucky drivers!
The ElektronQuasar, a hyper car with a fantastic price tag of around $2.5 million, hasredefined exclusivity and ambition in the automotive world. Produced by theinnovative automaker Elektron Motors, this masterpiece is limited to only twounits, making it one of the rarest cars in the world. From its conception toits near completion, the Quasar reflects the vision, leadership, and passion ofits CEO, Armagan Arabul.
A Visionary Leader
Let me introduce you to the boss: ArmaganArabul is not your typical CEO. As the head of Elektron Motors, he played anactive and hands-on role in every aspect of the Elektron Quasar project. Frommanaging the branding and marketing teams to providing direct feedback ondesign details, Armagan’s involvement was unparalleled. His ability topersonally guide the project and communicate directly with the designers andengineers was a refreshing and inspiring experience for me as a digitaldesigner. Armagan is originally from Turkey but is travelling the world to makehis all-time dream hyper car real!
However,Armagan’s journey was not without challenges. Originally from Turkey, he faced significantlogistical hurdles, including establishing a company in Germany and latercreating another in France due to taxation and payment transfer issues fordesign, engineering and manufacturing the prototype. On top of this, he had tobalance the demands of leading a high-profile project with the personalchallenges of relocating his family and ensuring his children adjusted to newschools. I’m sure their patience was a key for this project to becomesuccessful! Despite these difficulties, Armagan’s dedication never wavered. Histravel across Europe and beyond to promote the Elektron Quasar and his companyshowcased his commitment and leadership. I’ve never seen someone like himduring my career at automotive industry.
Armagan with his company has been awarded as “The MostSuccessful Automotive Company of the Year” at “International Istanbul Awards2022”.
I say futureis bright for Armagan and his brand new car, Quasar. If it can break thecircuit record (I’m sure it can), this will be a start of a good story of aself-employed man starting everything from zero and created an automotiveindustry without spending trillions of dollars.
A Fresh Start by A TalentedDesigner
The journeyof the Quasar hyper car began with a roadblock: the initial concept created bythe company’s engineering team failed to meet expectations. When Armaganapproached me with this project, he shared the original 3D model, and it wasclear that a fresh start was needed. Recognizing the need for a more refinedand professional design, Armagan brought in the talented designer Pham Huy.
Known for hisamazing and brilliant Lamborghini redesigns, other hyper car facelifts andconcept car designs, Pham Huy delivered a sleek, futuristic design for theElektron Quasar that aligned perfectly with Armagan’s vision. Having admiredPham Huy’s work on social media before, I was thrilled to collaborate with himon this project, although our roles were distinct. Pham completed the designphase, and I was entrusted with continuing the project and the 3D car body designusing Autodesk Alias software.
Autodesk Alias, a professionalchoice.
For those whomight not know, Autodesk Alias is a software for car design in 3d andabsolutely it is the most professional one which is being used by designers andmodelers at the automotive industry and some other fields.
3D Design & Engineering
As thedigital designer, my primary task was to transform Pham Huy’s sketches into adetailed 3D model using NURBS modeling. Some parts of the car, such as thedoor, front hood, and front bumper, had already been developed in engineeringsoftware like SOLIDWORKS and CATIA. I recreated these components in Alias whilerefining the design to align with the client’s expectations. Some partsrequired a lot of attention and precision, yet they still needed review andrestarting the process.
For the 3ddesign chapter, I used Autodesk Alias which is the most professional softwarefor the automotive design in the industry. Alias gives you high qualitysurfaces created by useful surfacing and analyzing tools. Well in this project,we reached a class quality for most of the body surfaces although the polishingwork could refine any problems in reflections and flows. In order to achievesomething smooth and clean, we kept the body patches as simple as we can. Atfirst, reference data files helped me a lot to find the exact position ofcurves and boundaries but the further we went, the more manual work became! Imean we did some try and errors to find the final position of some boundarieslike the area between the skirt and the front fender.
In additionto bodywork, I worked on engineering aspects like ensuring seamless connectionsbetween body surfaces and the chassis. Starting with a rough chassis referencemodel, we reinforced key areas like the front bumper, hood, and rear fender toenhance structural integrity.
I can’t saywhich one came first, egg or chicken! But I’m sure that the way we continuedthe project (working on chassis and body in parallel) was successful.
The workprogressed as we planned, beginning with the chassis, then moving to the sidedoor, front bumper, hood, rear fender, rear bumper, and finally the rearlights. We even worked on the interior parts, including a beautifully craftedsteering wheel, middle console and the dashboard. Watching all of these designscome to life as physical parts was incredibly rewarding, especially when seeingthe steering wheel and other components rapidly produced.
I can tellyou more and more about each stage. The designer who starts a new project haszero information about the production ups and downs but as we had Armagan nextto us, he gave us the confident not to worry about engineering problems and wecan solve them all together. The complexity of interior parts pushed us toseparate the interior to small pieces so we can build them. If I want to talkabout references, you have to believe me there were not enough data except someimages from detached similar parts of other cars. We used them to learn how andwhat to use as bolts, nuts and other connectors.
A Hyper Car in Action
One of themost exciting aspects of the Elektron Quasar project was witnessing the car inaction, even during its development. The client frequently tested the car onthe street, allowing me to see a work-in-progress hyper car speeding around.Built with lightweight carbon fiber, the Quasar combined performance withelegance, a true testament to cutting-edge automotive engineering.
Elektron fanswas always excited about new published photo of the car being tested. I thinkthat this kind of passing red lines of debuting a new car is going to be uniqueas all automakers, especially hyper car makers keep their design confidentialand never publish testing photos without a camouflage. This is very good to seea company is being honest with fans and want to surprise all of them withperformance and not only with the design.
Sharing the Process
As I said,unlike many projects where confidentiality restricts sharing, the ElektronQuasar’s development process was transparent. I was able to sharework-in-progress images on Instagram and LinkedIn, engaging my followers andsparking interest among other designers. This openness not only showcased theproject’s progress but also highlighted the strong marketing efforts ofElektron Motors.
The mediabuzz surrounding the Elektron Quasar was another remarkable aspect. Articlesand features about the car appeared in prominent news outlets, even before theproject was completed. This early publicity demonstrated the strength ofElektron’s marketing team and their ability to generate excitement for theQuasar.
Looking Ahead
The ElektronQuasar was designed with an ambitious goal: to break the Nürburgring speedrecord. Although this milestone has yet to be achieved, the car’s potentialremains undeniable. With plans for a special engine to propel it torecord-breaking speeds, the Elektron Quasar represents the pinnacle ofautomotive innovation.
Working ondifferent parts of this project was a transformative experience for me.Collaborating with a visionary CEO like Armagan Arabul and contributing to ahyper car of this caliber was both challenging and rewarding. The ElektronQuasar is more than just a car… it’s a statement of ambition, creativity, anddetermination.
