Caterham electric car to break cover imminently with radical design

Caterham volition showcase its astir extremist exemplary successful decades – a stunning electrical two-seat sports car wholly unrelated to the Seven – successful a substance of months, Autocar tin exclusively reveal.

As archetypal reported by Autocar past year, the Kent-based car shaper – present with the backing of Japanese steadfast VT Holdings – has plans for a wholly caller exemplary to service arsenic the spearhead for its modulation into the epoch of electrification.

While it was “just an thought successful people’s heads” successful September, plans person accelerated progressed and the caller plan volition beryllium showcased successful the coming months arsenic Caterham marks its 50th anniversary.

Leading the plan programme is caller plan main Anthony Jannarelly, champion known for the W Motors Lykan Hypersport and his ain Jannarelly Design-1 (pictured below) – a retro-styled, rear-driven sports car with a Nissan V6 and an ultra-light, Le Mans-inspired body.

Working successful concern with Italdesign successful Turin, the Frenchman is utilizing this task arsenic an accidental to “please the existing Caterham fans portion besides trying to scope different benignant of audience” for the brand.

Creating this “bridge”, arsenic helium enactment it, is simply a “big responsibility”, but helium is “not nervous, due to the fact that it’s exciting”.

“I would accidental astatine the extremity it’s an breathtaking moment. My main anticipation is radical volition recognize the connection coming from Caterham,” helium said.

This connection is that Caterham’s principles tin beryllium carried into and successfully embodied by a wholly caller product, irrespective of its positioning and the quality of its powertrain.

“The rule is ever lightness,” Jannarelly told Autocar. “What everybody loves astir the Seven is that it’s a elemental car that conscionable works, and adjacent if we’re making an EV, we volition effort to use the aforesaid philosophy. It’s precise simple. There volition beryllium nary fancy features. The main happening is your enjoyment successful driving this car.

“We’re trying to marque it arsenic airy arsenic possible. So the show which we volition [get] retired of it volition beryllium conscionable great. And the driving pleasance is simply a effect of this lightness. The cardinal words are ever simplicity, lightness and driving joy.”

The brand’s enthusiast entreaty has besides had a beardown power connected the caller car’s conception, said Jannarelly: “What bash you get erstwhile you get a Caterham? You get thing antithetic than from different cars. If you bargain a Caterham, you’re idiosyncratic a spot much daring; you’re not a mainstream person. And that’s thing I’d similar to enactment into the aboriginal model.”

Jannarelly has astir full state with this car, due to the fact that the function-over-form Seven “has nary styling” arsenic such.

“The adjacent car we’re going to marque is the archetypal car wherever we tin truly use what could beryllium the ‘Caterham styling’, which was not a information of the Seven, which came from the Lotus [7],” helium explained.

Beyond confirming that it won’t person a agelong bonnet and won’t beryllium “bulky”, Jannarelly stopped abbreviated of giving beardown clues arsenic to the signifier and size of the caller model, though helium did constituent to the slimness and simplicity of an EV architecture arsenic facilitators for improved packaging and compactness.

Jannarelly’s committedness to lightness and simplicity tallies with Caterham CEO Bob Laishley’s passionateness for maintaining the brand’s hallmarks.

“This volition decidedly not beryllium a Seven,” Laishley antecedently said astir the EV. “But it volition person each the characteristics today’s Caterham customers cognize well: lightness, simplicity, agility and performance.”

He continued: “Like the Seven, it volition person a alloy spaceframe – but a antithetic 1 – due to the fact that they’re casual to modify successful accumulation if you request to. It volition person a six-panel enveloping assemblage successful aluminium oregon carbonfibre: 2 sills, 2 doors positive clamshell openings beforehand and rear. It volition beryllium prettier and much modern than a Seven – those volition beryllium large points of favoritism – and possibly it volition person a roof. We’re designing it arsenic a axenic EV from the start, with rear thrust only, and it volition beryllium registered nether SVA rules.”

It’s not yet wide if Caterham volition uncover a conception car oregon a pre-production prototype this year, but Laishley hinted astatine a program to physique the EV successful a caller mill – precocious opened successful Dartford – astatine greater volumes than the Seven and for it to person a higher basal price.

Caterham hasn’t suggested an on-sale day for the caller car, but VT Holdings CEO Kazuho Takahashi’s eagerness to spot it scope accumulation suggests it could travel arsenic soon arsenic 2026.

Q&A: Anthony Jannarelly, main designer, Caterham

What drew you to Caterham?

“A Caterham was the archetypal car I bought erstwhile I moved to Dubai, and that was a spot surprising, due to the fact that I was a decorator of a €3 cardinal supercar [the W Motors Lykan], but really what I wanted to thrust was this precise lightweight, back-to- basics retro sports car.”

Is it daunting to make an all-new Caterham model?

“If you expect thing similar the Seven, it’s not. Even if you asked maine to redesign the Seven, we wouldn’t cognize what to do, due to the fact that the quality of the car is that signifier follows function, truthful thing you effort to adhd oregon modify is pointless. So it’s hard to effort to analyse it excessively much. [The caller car] has to person immoderate similarities successful the acquisition it gives you and the wide attack to plan concept, but it can’t beryllium thing adjacent to the Seven. That’s going to beryllium the hard thing, maybe, for immoderate radical to accept.”

How volition electrification power the design?

“The quality of electrical exertion is that you person a batch of abstraction everywhere. The lone contented for a sports car is the artillery battalion successful the little portion of the car, truthful you request to find immoderate tricks to marque definite that the car doesn’t get excessively high. But erstwhile you’ve done that, you’re chiefly free: you enactment your 4 wheels and you truly effort to beryllium arsenic adjacent arsenic imaginable to the bones of the car. An electrical car level is precise skinny and simple. For me, that’s a large accidental to use the DNA of Caterham, which is simplicity.”