Caterham is out to show that electrical automobiles do not must be heavier than their gas-powered counterparts with a sultry electrical sports activities automobile code-named Mission V.

Caterham is greatest identified for its light-weight monitor automobiles based mostly on the unique Lotus Seven design. The corporate’s ethos is driver centered, light-weight, and enjoyable to drive, and that is very a lot the objective for the Mission V.

The automobile is at present in growth with a focused weight of lower than 2,624 kilos. Compared, the Lotus Evija hypercar, one of many lightest EVs in manufacturing, weighs greater than 3,700 kilos, though it additionally has a record-breaking output of two,011 hp.

Confirmed specs for the Mission V embody a 268-hp electrical motor on the rear axle and a 55-kwh battery within the flooring. The mix, in accordance with Caterham, is nice for 0-62 mph accleration in lower than 4.5 seconds, a high velocity of 143 mph, and a variety of 249 miles on the beneficiant WLTP check cycle used abroad. This could nonetheless are available in over 200 miles when measured on the EPA cycle. Utilizing a DC quick charger, the battery could be charged from 20-80% in about quarter-hour.

The comparatively small battery helps preserve the burden down, as does a carbon-fiber monocoque and composite physique within the type of a coupe. The physique was penned by Caterham’s new design chief, Anthony Jannarelly, the designer behind the equally sultry Jannarelly Design-1 sports activities automobile.

The Mission V additionally options double wishbone suspension with adjustable geometry at each ends, plus electrical energy steering, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires (19-inch entrance and 20-inch rear), and a high-performance brake bundle.

For the inside, just about each merchandise was chosen on the premise that it wanted to keep up lightness and optimize driver engagement. The result’s a pared-back design with a 2+1 seating association as normal and a pair of+2 out there.

Caterham Mission V

Caterham Mission V

Caterham Mission V

The Mission V is slated to reach by late 2025 or early the next yr, and Caterham has already introduced a focused price ticket of lower than 80,000 British kilos (roughly $103,650).

The corporate will current the automobile at this week’s 2023 Goodwood Competition of Pace within the U.Okay., the place it’ll additionally present a pair of electrical Seven prototypes. Caterham has beforehand mentioned an electrical Seven will solely attain manufacturing after the Mission V. A part of the reason being that present EV expertise remains to be too heavy for a automobile just like the Seven, in accordance with the corporate.

“We’re honored to have the ability to unveil two new automobiles from Caterham at Goodwood Competition of Pace,” Kazuho Takahashi, CEO of Caterham guardian firm VT Holdings. “The brand new fashions are a results of an uncompromising fusion of two seemingly contradictory necessities: retaining the Caterham values that mustn’t ever change, whereas evolving to satisfy the altering calls for of shoppers, such because the shift in direction of electrical.”