Many of us grew up wanting to be Batman and with the new The Batman movie just around the corner we're all ready to wish we could be Batman all over again. While that's pretty unlikely unless you've a butler and a few billion dollars tucked away, you can at least pretend to be the caped crusader by driving his car around.
Imagine the looks on the faces of all the other parents outside school when you roll up in a genuine Batmobile (replica). That's now an option, for a select few at least, after Vietnam-based Macro Studios set about recreating one of the world's most famous cars using blueprints from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
This isn't just any Batmobile. This is the Tumbler or, to be more specific, the e-Tumbler as it's being called. Because it's an electric vehicle, you see.
The machine looks almost identical to the car driven by Christian Bale himself, though this one can be driven anywhere, anytime. It weighs just 1,300 lbs and its construction consists of carbon fiber, ABS plastic, and other lightweight bits and pieces.
That was required to make sure the e-Tumbler didn't weigh the insane 5,000 lbs of the original on-screen machine. Otherwise the Batmobile would end up sounding like a fully-loaded dump truck.
That said, don't expect Tesla Model S performance here. This EV will manage around 65mph at full bore and we also don't know what kind of range we can expect.
If you’re interested in the boring bits, the e-Tumbler has space for two people — so there’s room to take Robin with you. The doors are sliding affairs and you get four safety cameras. Those will probably come in handy when you're trying to park in those tight Arkham parking spaces.
The prototype e-Tumbler is on display at VAN DARYL automotive gallery in Ho Chi Minh City. Nine replicas were also made, seven of which have already been sold, and were reported to cost just $35,000. That’s surprisingly cheap for an EV, very few of which are available for under $40K, and it’s a heck of a lot cooler than a Nissan Leaf or Mazda MX-30.
But, realistically, would the price actually matter? It's a Batmobile that you can buy and that's all we need to know. We’re sure the kids won’t mind us spending their college fund if it means taking this piece of art down to the local Walmart next time we run out of eggs.
