Caterham on Thursday revealed an EV that holds true to the light-and-lean formula that some might say is part of what defines a sports car.
In the age of electric cars, those are serious challenges, and we haven’t seen an electric sports car that’s truly light and doesn’t have a supercar price since the original Tesla Roadster.
Caterham Project V concept electric sports car
Enter Caterham’s Project V, which measures 167.5 inches long—about a foot longer than the Mazda MX-5 Miata or Tesla Roadster. It’s 74.5 inches wide and rides on a 101.6-inch wheelbase. But above all, its 48.3-inch overall height is perhaps most noteworthy, in this era of challenging skateboard-platform proportions. Based on the layout illustration provided by Caterham, it’s separated the battery into two sections—one just ahead of the passenger cell, one just behind it, but both within the axles.
Caterham Project V concept electric sports car
Caterham is targeting a weight of just over 2,600 pounds for the project. A battery pack of just 55 kwh and recent gains in energy density made it at least possible on the drawing board.
The rear-wheel-drive sports car will have just one 200-kw electric motor mounted at the rear axle. The concept runs on a double-wishbone suspension, front and rear, and uses staggered-width Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires biased to the rear. The UK sports-car maker plans a chassis made of carbon fiber and aluminum, plus composite bodywork.
Caterham Project V concept electric sports car
By keeping the car light, what’s seen as modest power today will be plenty to move quickly. Caterham anticipates a 0-62 mph time of less than 4.5 seconds and a top speed around 143 mph. Meanwhile, the modest mass will help with range for this sports car, too—with a targeted 249 miles WLTP, which might figure around 200 miles for those of us who go by the EPA cycle.
