The six-wheeled Hennessey Deep Space will debut in 2023

A version of Hennessey’s very own moon shot, the six-wheeled hyper EV dubbed ‘Deep Space’, will be showcased in 2023.

The exterior design is about “80 per cent completed”, while the interior is around halfway to where the team needs it to be. The Hennessey team confirmed to TG.com that we'll see a show car next year, and it'll be pretty close to the final car that arrives in 2026.

"We'll move pretty quickly in terms of a prototype," Hennessey designer Nathan Malinick told TG. "We're doing a lot of heavy lifting now so that we don't end up with something that we can't confidently produce. So what you're going to see [in 2023] - as crazy it's going to be - that will be more or less be what we're going to produce."

It'll be built in Texas, and Malinick noted how the team's campus has grown significantly to cope with not just the Deep Space project, but also 'other' versions of the Venom F5. We know a track-based F5 is on the way, but Malinick confirmed there'll be another.

In terms of why do a diamond-seated six-wheeled electric hyperthing, boss John Hennessey told us this. "Going back 10 plus years ago, Tesla comes out. I started thinking about electrification, but I had to do it differently. Six electric motors that have fifty per cent more power and also have fifty per cent more grip. I'd have a long wheelbase, but that gives you more room to package a larger interior and a larger battery.

"I know Tyrrell and a few other race cars have utilised that, but nobody has done it in a road car," he said. Not in a modern, performance-oriented road car, of course. The Hispano Suiza H6A from the 1920s was one of the first, and there have been a few super low volume attempts from the likes of the Panther 6 and Covini C6W road cars outside of the Tyrrell F1 effort, but nothing recent that isn't a whacking great SUV with an extra axle stuck on the back.  

As for the interior, Hennessey expressed his admiration for Gordon Murray. “I’ve always been a huge fan [of him], of the McLaren F1 and Speedtail, of the T.50 with the three seats. I thought what if we had the central driving position, two flanking seats with a lot more legroom, and a fourth seat in the back.”

He spoke with Malinick who told him to describe the design philosophy while he sketched it out. “I grabbed an oversized bank envelope, and he sketches it out and came up with the name ‘Deep Space’ because it’s so far out there,” John said. 

While Hennessey hasn’t yet confirmed what kind of drivetrain tech we’ll see in Deep Space, he did admit it’d likely be bought in from elsewhere. “We’re not intending to create our own motor, inverters, or batteries,” he said. In terms of companies he admires, he namechecks Lucid and Tesla, especially the latter. “I own a Tesla Model S Plaid, I really love the vehicle and would love to have Deep Space as part of the Tesla Supercharging network,” he said.

The team is still aiming for the raw stats revealed late last year: 2,000bhp from a six-motor drivetrain (one on each wheel), together with a battery capable of delivering 600 miles of range packaged up inside a carbon chassis and carbon body panels.

Panels shaped with heavy aerospace influences, according to Melnick. “John has a strong connection to NASA, and it is really inspired by what the astronauts have done in terms of space exploration and going to the moon,” he told TG. well, it is a moon shot.