Drako is producing a new all-electric SUV built for more than just carting the kids to soccer practice.
Drako Dragon is the world’s first production SUV with a full carbon fiber structure. This engineering saves 50% of the weight of the chassis compared to a traditional SUV while delivering twice the structural rigidity, the company says. This weight savings helps offset the necessary weight of the battery pack, enabling Dragon to meet or beat weight parity with gasoline-powered super-SUVs.
Drako says it has been developing the DriveOS system and its NanoControl Quad Motor vehicle dynamics controls on the world’s most challenging racing circuits, as well as in extreme weather and
off-road environments. Dragon’s four electric motors combine to provide 2,000 HP, enabling 0-60 MPH runs of 1.9 seconds, quarter-mile times of 9.0 seconds, and a top speed in excess of 200 MPH. Dragon is also equipped with carbon ceramic rotors at all four corners. The front brakes use 10-piston calipers on 420-mm discs, while the rear brakes use 6-piston calipers on 410-mm discs. Dragon also features a multi-stage suspension, with an ultra-low center of gravity and 50/50 weight distribution.
Drako’s Quad Motor architecture, pioneered on the company’s GTE model, features a motor controlling each wheel. Quad Motor drive also means all-wheel drive. Providing each of the four Quad Motors with electricity is a battery pack designed and built by Drako to handle the demands of Dragon’s performance. A massively parallel cooling system winds its way around each cell. With 500-kW fast-charging capability, Dragon battery pack charges to 80% in 10 minutes, regaining 336 of its 420-mile total range.
The headlights and tail lights feature digital visual cues and unique LEDs. Designed for off-road adventures as well as on-road performance, Dragon also features ultra-bright rally lights integrated into its roof to improve driver awareness in extreme environments.
The B-pillarless design and panoramic glass roof offer passengers unobstructed views outward. A rear-seat entertainment package with dual screens mounted to the rear of the leather and carbon fiber front seats will also be available. Rear seat occupants also get programmable backlighting that shines through perforated leather panels.
The steering wheel offers physical driver controls mounted directly to the steering wheel, including those for the turn signals, windshield wipers, headlights and horn, as well as two five-way thumb controllers and a pair of driver-programmable rotary controls.
Between the two first-row occupants sits a 17.1-in. touchscreen display, which allows for monitoring and configuration of the vehicles’ systems as well as infotainment experiences. The digital instrument cluster display is customizable, as are the programmable steering wheel controls. The side view mirrors are camera-and-screen-based, with tiny door-mounted cameras displaying their output on screens embedded into the dashboard.
Although Dragon is designed in Italy, it will be built in America with plans to ramp production to 5,000 units per year. Production and first customer deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2026.
Dragon will come at a base price of $290,000, with “extensive individualization services available,” the company says.
