Caterham will preserve making its petrol-powered Seven for a while but, however it’s engaged on each an electrical model and a brand new electrical roadster.
Firm CEO Bob Laishley informed Autocar work on an electrified Seven is properly beneath approach, though Caterham house owners haven’t been asking for such a car, however the firm is in no hurry to launch it.
A number of experimental variations have additionally reportedly been constructed privately, although a manufacturing mannequin is known to be not less than 5 years away.
“From the start, Caterham’s historical past has centred round repurposing OEM parts in an imaginative approach,” mentioned Mr Laishley.
“If I need to do this with a Seven EV, the place do I get lightness? We’re nonetheless within the early days of small EV improvement. Components are conservative and heavy.
“We’re by no means going to need to launch a 1000kg Seven. We’d somewhat not do it.”
His supreme Seven EV is one which weighs lower than 700kg and affords “20-15-20” efficiency, the place house owners can arrive to a observe totally charged, drive quick for 20 minutes, recharge for quarter-hour, then do it once more.
“If we will’t ship a Seven that may do that, we shouldn’t be launching it,” he mentioned.
Caterham has definitively dominated out providing a hybrid mannequin.
“We’re about lightness. Why would we construct a automobile that wants two separate powertrains? It might be a horrendous compromise,” mentioned Mr Laishley.
As for the opposite deliberate EV, Mr Laishley says it’s “simply an concept in folks’s heads” in the mean time however the firm’s new Japanese proprietor, VT Holdings, is eager to make it a actuality.
The deliberate EV received’t be fairly as utilitarian because the Seven, nor will or not it’s as inexpensive, however it is going to be in-built a brand new manufacturing facility at higher volumes than the Seven.
It might reportedly be unveiled as quickly as 2026, sooner than the Seven EV.
“This can undoubtedly not be a Seven,” Mr Laishley mentioned, “But it surely’ll have all of the traits at this time’s Caterham clients know properly: lightness, simplicity, agility and efficiency.”
“Just like the Seven, it’ll have a metal spaceframe (however a special one) as a result of they’re simple to change in manufacturing if you’ll want to. It would have a six-panel enveloping physique in aluminium or carbon: two sills, two doorways plus clamshell openings entrance and rear.
“Will probably be prettier and extra fashionable than a Seven – these might be huge factors of distinction – and perhaps it’ll have a roof. We’re designing it as a pure EV from the beginning, with rear drive solely, and it is going to be registered beneath SVA guidelines.”
The Single Car Approval scheme is a pre-registration inspection for vehicles that haven’t been accepted to British or European requirements, and is often utilized by equipment vehicles and intensely low-volume manufacturing autos.
Caterham has tried to introduce a companion mannequin to the Seven earlier than. The C120 coupe was developed with Renault, however the boutique British model ran out of funds in 2014 and the venture was cancelled.
Renault’s effort did, nevertheless, attain manufacturing within the form of the Alpine A110.
As for Caterham’s iconic petrol-powered Seven, it is going to be produced for not less than one other decade, even when the UK’s proposed 2030 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles is maintained, as Caterham nonetheless sees export potential past this date.
The Seven was first conceived by Colin Chapman as a Lotus all the way in which again in 1957, with Caterham buying the rights after Lotus ended manufacturing in 1972.
Over time, it has used powertrains sourced from quite a few different firms, together with Ford, Common Motors and Rover.
The corporate, bought by its Japanese importer final 12 months, not too long ago revealed its lightest Seven but: the 170.
Powered by a Suzuki-sourced 660cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine producing 63kW of energy and 116Nm of torque, it weighs simply 440kg and has a power-to-weight ratio exceeding 126kW per tonne.
Final 12 months, Caterham constructed 500 autos. It at the moment employs 135 folks, and Caterham says demand for its autos is powerful.
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