Ac Propulsion
Ac Propulsion tzero
The tZero (a mathematical symbol meaning, 'time from a standing start in sequence') is a hand-built electric sports car designed and built in very limited numbers by the U.S. pioneering company AC Propulsion in the mid 1990s. It was the inspiration and direct predecessor of the Tesla line of electric cars. The only part of the tZero that was not proprietary was the body that was based on the Piontek Sportech sports car, yet many parts of the body and interior were extensively modified. It consists of a Kevlar & Carbon Fiber reinforced body built over a custom hand-built reinforced stainless steel fabricated to package batteries space frame with double wishbone independent suspension and rack and pinion steering. AC Propulsion utilized their AC-150 drivetrain, a single-speed electric system with an overall gear ratio of 9:1. An experimental mule was made in the early 90s, and a complete vehicle was made the following year, launching in January 1996. Only 3 prototypes were built, the last one also being an official VIN production car. Prospect interested buyers included many big celebrities, well known scientists, and Silicon Valley engineers. Plans for a viable commercial production were eventually dropped in mid-2003. The name comes from t0, the mathematical symbol for a starting point in time. Due to high production costs, AC Propulsion ceased to produce the tZero. Only three were built, and as of 2025, only 2 survive. The only remaining examples are owned by the company itself and a private owner. The last tZero vehicle built used an advanced/updated ACP Gen 2 system that was capable of V2G (vehicle-to-grid & vehicle-to-vehicle charging system). The tZero vehicles were extensively tested. Even including a cross country USA trip.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Sources
- Wikidata / Wikipedia profiles — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/cars/Q289643CC0 / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tZeroCC BY-SA 4.0 · Intro text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1375505074 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.