Caterham, a British company known for keeping the Lotus Seven’s spirit alive, will soon take a huge step towards the mainstream. The firm will introduce an electric concept car called Project V on July 12, 2023, to preview what some of its cars will look like in the coming years.
The dark teaser image published by Caterham leaves a lot to the imagination, as it merely shows the outline of a coupe with pronounced front wheel arches, a low roof line and LED running lights. Cast in this light, or in this lack of light, we could be looking at a Porsche. Regardless of what it looks like, the Project V will have a big influence on the firm’s range because it will preview a new design language.
Caterham openly admits that it’s exploring a new turf with the Project V, but it stresses that it’s not consigning its standards to the automotive attic. “While this new concept may be a visual departure from the existing Seven range, Caterham remains committed to its core values of lightness, simplicity and a driver-focused experience,” it wrote in a statement. It added that Italdesign helped design and engineer the car.
This isn’t the first time that Caterham has tried pivoting away from its heritage. In 2012, it joined Renault’s effort to reboot the then-dormant Alpine brand. The project spawned the modern-day A110, and it should have also given enthusiasts a Caterham-branded variant of the mid-engine coupe, but the two companies dissolved their partnership in 2014. Caterham’s car, called C120 internally, remained a prototype.
This isn’t Caterham’s first venture into the electric segment, either. While all of its regular-production models burn gasoline, it revealed a battery-powered Seven in May of this year to use as a rolling laboratory. Engineers managed to keep weight in check (the roadster tips the scale at about 1,500 pounds) by using a relatively small, 51-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Driving range — a crucial metric — wasn’t announced.
Caterham will introduce the Project V concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed taking place in England in July 2023. More details will likely emerge in the coming weeks. As for what’s next, your guess is as good as ours. It sounds like Caterham’s new owners are serious about planting a stake in the EV segment, but it also sounds like its engineers and executives don’t believe the technology is ready.
“We do not have plans to put [the electric Seven] into production,” said CEO Bob Laishley after the aforementioned Seven-based prototype made its debut. “We’re going to bring this to market at the right time, when the future generation of battery technology allows it,” he added.
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