Caterham previews 'Project V' electric concept
Not just electric - but apparently with a roof, too!
You wait ages for a new Caterham and then, out of the blue, two come along at once. A couple of weeks ago, the British marque threw its hat into the electric sports car ring by announcing a battery-powered concept based on the legendary Seven. Now, it’s teased another concept that, from the looks of it, appears to abandon the Seven platform altogether.
Not that we’ve got a lot to go on here, because the only thing Caterham has revealed about its ‘Project V’ concept is that’ll be powered by an “electric powertrain”. A bold move for a carmaker that specialises in all things featherweight, but the company reiterates that whatever Project V turns out to be will be “driver-focused, lightweight and fun to drive.” Not convinced? For its Seven EV concept, Caterham is targeting a mere 70kg increase over the combustion-powered 485 and a weight distribution within two per cent. Needless to say, it’s taking the lightweight EV sports car thing very seriously.
As for the way it looks, well, this shadowy image is all we’ve got to go off. Doesn’t look like a Seven, does it? Three simple lines hint at a low nose, a proper roof (!) and wheel arches. Unless it's gone and stapled some bodywork to a Seven, all signs to this being the company’s first all-new road car since the AeroSeven Concept which, as the name suggests, was based on the Seven... and never made production.
Let’s hope the same fate won’t befall Project V because a lightweight, all-electric sports car sounds rather appealing when Caterham is involved. Looks like we won’t have that long a wait to see what the company’s up to, as a countdown on the Project V landing page would suggest an official unveiling in mid-July. In the meantime, you can register you interest in one and/or speculate to your heart’s content in the comments below.
But it won't sell, because Caterham's customer base are too reactionary.
Speaking as a Caterham driver
I imagine 'lightweight' is going to be a relative term. But apparently we will find out soon.
But unfortunately they have a long and distinguished history of failing to do so on everything else they've tried (21, Caterola, CSR, Alpine collaboration, AeroSeven...), so their track record is very much against them (pun intentional).
Yet Caterham is the most successful kit car manufactuer with the most valuable brand equity in the UK.
And the whole UK kit car industry is f
ked, so 'most successful kit car manufacturer' is looking increasingly like a millstone rather than a badge of honour.You probably won't believe me, but I genuinely want to see Caterham survive (and I'm a long-standing kit-car enthusiast, so it gives me no pleasure to witness the drawn-out death of that industry, either, but the reality is there whether you like it or not).
I suspect the rest is prejudice and reluctance to accept change.
I imagine it'll be light in terms of battery cars and what cars weigh now, rather than what we previously thought of as light. I'd take anything around a ton with a 200 mile cruising range and 70 mile fast driving range.
But it won't sell, because Caterham's customer base are too reactionary.
“My vision for a future Caterham will explore my retro-futuristic design philosophy”
.What Antony Jannarelly meant:
"I'm going to take a big fat consultancy fee as Caterham's new Chief Designer, without actually changing their design in any meaningful way whatsoever."
You've got to admire his chutzpah?
Poor old Jannarelly is probably onto a loser, though, because poor old Caterham is onto a loser too: everything they do, bless them, is rejected by their established customer base.
Perhaps it's just a matter of them sticking to something long enough for a new customer base, and acceptance of the changes, to build up? It worked for Morgan, who took a good few years to build up an acceptance of the Aero, which led to an acceptance of their current, more modern chassis designs.
Caterham has perhaps given up too quickly, in the past, rather than 'carrying' a product at a loss and low volumes, initially, until it develops a big enough following to sustain itself. The problem with this one is that such a step change in design will cost a s
tload to develop (unlike the 21, Caterola - which was basically an existing Lola design - CSR and AeroSeven), so they'll no doubt need to start recouping that investment pretty quickly.Poor old Jannarelly probably won't care, though, so long as his consultancy fee is big enough!
Speaking as a Caterham driver
Speaking as a less than 40 years old Caterham owner. I'm genuinely excited to see what they come up with.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff