An icon of British sports cars, the Caterham Seven is looking to an electric future – but only when the time is right.
One of the most classic and recognisable sports cars is embracing the electric-car era.
British sports-car company Caterham this week revealed the EV Seven concept – an electric version of its classic open-top model – with another on the way.
With the petrol-powered Seven a favourite of track-day enthusiasts, Caterham says it insisted its electric counterpart would have to be suitable for both road and race-track use.
The EV (electric vehicle) Seven has a “repeatable 20-15-20 drive cycle”, which the company says allows the owner to drive on track for 20 minutes, recharge for 15 minutes, then hit the race track for another 20-minute session.
The Caterham EV Seven concept is powered by an electric motor at the rear axle – supplied by UK company Swindon Powertrain – producing 179kW and 250Nm, and powered by a 51kWh battery.
All of which is good for a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of four seconds flat, thanks to the car’s sub-700kg weight.
Caterham claims the 20-15-20 drive cycle is possible due to the battery only using around 40kWh of its available 51kWh – reducing the likelihood of premature degradation – while the battery itself is filled with dielectric fluid from Motul to stabilise heating and cooling.
Caterham says the immersion-cooled battery is cutting-edge technology, which has typically been used to cool supercomputers until now.
Curiously, the British firm does not quote the EV Seven’s driving range on a single charge.
The vehicle does utilise regenerative braking, and is fitted with four-piston front brake callipers, Bilstein shock absorbers, and a limited-slip differential.
“We do not have plans to put EV Seven into production at this stage – it’s a test bed to see how well an [electric] powertrain works for our customer’s specific use cases,” said Bob Laishley, CEO of Caterham.
“We’re doing this project with our eyes wide open so that we can learn how to deliver the specific Caterham vehicle attributes necessary for a Seven: lightweight, simple and fun to drive.
“We’re going to bring this to market at the right time when the future generation of battery technology allows it, and that’s why now is the time for us to trial the concept,” he added.
Caterham has also announced a second “fully-electric sports car concept” to be revealed later this year.
The Caterham EV Seven concept is due to make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK in July.
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