All-electric Caterham Seven promised
Emboldened by new ownership, Caterham starts to consider a brave new world...
Caterham says it is developing an all-electric Seven to join its line-up from 2023, as the firm attempts to adapt to incoming emissions and safety regulations. The car is said to retain the ethos and look of its petrol-powered Seven, but uses batteries and an electric motor provided by another OEM. The two-pedal model will likely deliver 620R-grade straight-line performance.
Speaking to Autocar, Caterham's CEO, Graham Macdonald, said the car will be “very much like a go-kart,” with “rapid acceleration”. He accepted that it’ll be “a different product to drive”, but emphasised that it’ll be “no less exciting, but [instead] exciting in a different way”. Apparently, new owner VT Holdings is supportive of the idea of an EV Caterham to ensure the survival of the brand “for another 50 years”. In 2023, the company will officially reach its first half a century.
No less significant is the hiring of former Nissan Global Sportscar programme director, Bob Laishley, as its new Chief Strategy Officer. Laisley is an industry heavyweight who spent more than 25 years at Nissan, some of it spent overseeing the GT-R and Z car projects. His appointment, the first made under the new owner, succinctly spells out the importance of near-term strategy for Caterham's immediate health.
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"Caterham is a very special brand, with a very special product that has been a benchmark for handling and performance, so it was not a difficult decision to take up the offer from Takahashi-san and the board at VT Holdings," explained Laishley. "The first priority is to protect and develop the Seven so that it can continue to meet the expectations of our customer base in the immediate years."
He added: "Yes, I have ideas, but so do the team. We're now focused on appraising those collectively and building a clear roadmap for the business for the next decade. The Caterham DNA of lightness and fun is unique in the automotive world and that's the key ingredient on which we will sensibly build."
Quite how the introduction of an EV variant will fit into this roadmap is not yet clear given the packaging issues associated with integrating batteries into the Seven's spaceframe - but Caterham's CEO plainly feels like the model is necessary for the company to thrive in the future. The thought of a silent, torque-addled Seven is an intriguing one, but the firm has plenty on its plate with the mandatory integration of cameras and radars required by incoming EU safety legislation to worry about. Laisley's inbox must've been brimmed on day one.
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An EV just doesn't have that and a large part of the joy will be gone.
The world is changing and I don't like it.
A quarter of a century later than the competition, but somebody has finally woken up and smelled the coffee?!
They NEED this, to survive.
I know one or two people on this forum who are going to be terribly upset, though.
I don't think all their competition were committing to an EV future back in 96 were they?
It’ll be quick for sure, but heavy, no real sensory enjoyment outside the Electric grunt. It just becomes a small normal car.
That’s over simplifying it a bit but like any vehicle like this, electric power won’t help them survive because it’s replacing a core part of their appeal with something unappealing.
Pro EV people will disagree but in the main they’re not the customer base for these cars anyway.
I don't think all their competition were committing to an EV future back in 96 were they?
Google 'Westfield WiSPER' (contrived acronym: Westfield in Structural Plastics Electric Roadster), which had a composite monocoque tub as well as being electrically powered (guess we'll need to give Caterham another quarter of a century to catch up with that...).
I built and ran a Caterham for 4 years. Loved the noise, vibrations and drama of the thing, but probably wouldn't have another. It's an itch thats been scratched. An EV version though is a different story - instead of bemoaning it as a Caterham minus the noise, i'd consider it an EV but with the style, handling and excitement of a Caterham. If they can secure the rights to the Elise chassis and share the EV platform across both models, I think they'll be on to a winner. I'd certainly be tempted.
What depresses me almost as much as forcing these small companies to go electric is forcing them to fit cameras and all that other junk. It's a shame we decided to follow the EU down that path, even though we don't really need to.
For cars like this, I really don't think it's necessary, and is just going to risk putting these small companies out of business.
If that isn't too much different, you might be able to do interesting things with weight distribution, 4 wheel drive and torque vectoring, or perhaps you could quick release some of the batteries to let you match the weight to the journey length.
What's interesting with this is that if the justification for EV is CO2 emissions then the elephant in the room is weight - What's the CO2 impact of the journey and what's the CO2 impact of carrying around all the rubbish that modern cars come with. Caterham style cars don't have that issue and are arguably closer to some fo the cars of the future - Small and light.
)I'd imagine an ICE will still be available for as long as other manufacturers are building them, but they've been putting 660cc 3 pots in them for a few years now as well. I could see an electric one being entertaining in its own manner.
Batteries are heavy. Car is not designed to be electric so batteries'll not be readily sited in helpful places - low and central.
Unless they are tiny then range'll be poor also.
Just enough juice to get to the track then, bugger!
One thing in their favour - these are usually bought as, at least, a 2nd car so the owner'll already have alternative means of going on holiday/other long distance journey.
For cars like this, I really don't think it's necessary, and is just going to risk putting these small companies out of business.
Batteries are heavy. Car is not designed to be electric so batteries'll not be readily sited in helpful places - low and central.
Unless they are tiny then range'll be poor also.
Just enough juice to get to the track then, bugger!
Batteries are heavy. Car is not designed to be electric so batteries'll not be readily sited in helpful places - low and central.
They don't have any DNA of their own. It's all adopted. Batteries are heavy. Car is not designed to be electric so batteries'll not be readily sited in helpful places - low and central.
I’m more concerned about the regulations making small manufacturers add things like cameras.
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