The Caterham Challenge V is the British model’s first-ever hardtop all-electric coupe and the principle speaking factors are its low weight of two,623 kilos (1,190 kilograms), fun-to-drive character, and total simplicity.

To realize this in an age the place EVs are more and more heavier as a result of huge batteries required to supply lengthy driving ranges, Caterham has employed some strategies that might in any other case be frowned upon in a mass-market automobile, resembling the shortage of a entrance trunk, which is turning into a traditional incidence on the earth of EVs.

Nevertheless, because the model’s CEO, Bob Laishley, says within the Absolutely Charged video embedded above, which was filmed on the 2023 Goodwood Pageant of Pace, there’s a easy rationalization for all of this: cash.

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There’s no frunk as a result of it’s costly to develop, as with every half that’s designed to open and shut tens of hundreds of occasions throughout its lifetime. Caterham is a small firm with a small finances, so taking place this route allowed it to reduce prices, in addition to make the most of all of the area within the entrance of the automotive for the most effective suspension bits – on this case, a totally adjustable double-wishbone setup.

It’s value noting that whereas the Caterham Challenge V isn’t a static present automotive, it’s additionally not precisely a completed product, being designed by Anthony Janarelly, the agency’s new Chief Designer, and made with the assist of Italdesign manufacturing.

With this being stated, the British firm identified for its Lotus Seven-based open-wheelers has put plenty of effort into doing as a lot improvement work as attainable, seeing the way it doesn’t have the funds for to make a static showpiece that may be simply displayed in a museum when it’s all stated and carried out. As a substitute, the Challenge V is as near a completed product as it may be, and to make this occur, Caterham has repurposed some elements made by different automotive makers so as to hold prices down.

As an example, the door aperture is from the Audi TT and the entrance seats are from Maserati, which saves money and time, in addition to making the Challenge V look much less like a equipment automotive and extra like a top quality product.

The spec sheet of Caterham’s first hardtop EV says that it will likely be powered by a 200-kilowatt (268 horsepower) rear electrical motor that’s paired with a 55-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, giving it an estimated vary of 249 miles (400 kilometers). The agency’s CEO says that the pack is definitely cut up in two, with one half tucked beneath the driving force’s footwell (it’s a right-hand drive automotive), whereas the opposite is underneath the one rear seat.

“We’re not aiming for a digital driving expertise,” stated Caterham’s CEO within the Absolutely Charged video. “We need to hold that analog really feel to the automotive as a lot as we will with an EV powertrain, and that’s a journey we’re simply beginning.”

The Caterham Challenge V is anticipated to make it into manufacturing in late 2025 for a yet-to-be-disclosed value.

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