810-HP Hyundai Veloster Concept Is an All-Electric

The RM20e was developed with Rimac, with an 810-hp electric motor sending power to the rear wheels, and claims a zero-to-60-mph time under three seconds.

In a follow-up to its electric eTCR Veloster race car introduced last year, Hyundai has built a new battery-powered concept based on our favorite hot hatch. It's called the RM20e, and like the Veloster eTCR, it has a mid-mounted motor and spins the rear wheels. Developed in collaboration with Rimac, it makes a claimed 810 horsepower and 708 lb-ft of torque. That is . . . a lot.

The RM20e is the latest in a long line of midship Hyundai Veloster concepts, with the first having debuted in 2015. The RM stands for "racing midship." According to the South Korean company, the car is an engineering rolling lab for testing its new high-performance tech. The single 800-volt electric motor is powered by a 60.0-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which Hyundai claims is able to propel the car to 60 mph in less than three seconds and on to 124 mph in 9.9 seconds. Top speed is over 155 mph.

Hyundai says its recent investment and partnership with Croatian firm Rimac is what facilitated this all-electric concept. The carmaker says the "platform will continue to evolve along with the growth of this Rimac partnership," which could only mean more cool high-horsepower track cars going forward.

“Our new electrified RM20e pushes the proven RM platform forcefully into a new, environmentally focused decade of the 21st century, stretching the performance envelope of electrification on normal road environments,” Hyundai R&D boss Albert Biermann said in a statement. "RM20e represents a revolutionary new chapter of electrified performance for the Racing Midship series, and our N engineers continue to garner valuable insights in the arena of zero-emission performance dynamics."