We never expected an electric Caterham Seven but here we are

Electric Caterham Seven. We thought this day would never come. What you see here is a prototype and Caterham says it has no intention of putting it into production.

We see a real electric Caterham Seven

Yes, that exists and it is Seven, but weight of 70 kg, with performance to match thermal Seven’s flagship, the 620. Based on a wide chassis, it will use A 50.8kWh battery is mounted up front (40kWh useful) which will power a 240hp electric motor on the rear axle. including a single gear and a limited slip differential.

The battery extends into the transmission tunnel, allowing a weight distribution almost identical to that of a petrol car. 0-100km/h will take around 4.0 seconds, top speed is 210km/h and the target weight is less than 700kg – the aim is for the added weight to be equivalent to carrying one passenger. However, what we have here is perhaps the lightest electric car in the world.

Caterham car, Swindon electric and then track

It’s not just Caterham’s job. The company has teamed up – not for the first time – with Swindon Powertrain. The touring car engine specialist first started production of the Seven JPE (Jonathan Palmer Evolution) in 1993. Swindon Powertrain has since diversified, going so far as to produce its own EV brand, the Swind, which electrified the Mini and build an e-bike.

The plan is to build two prototypes of seven EVsdesigned to achieve a specific goal: track the day’s use. “The core of the product’s DNA is the track car”said Bob Laishley, CEO of Caterham and continued “You have a song you have for an hour, what do you do: drive for 20 minutes, drink a cup of tea and then use it again for the last 20 minutes of the hour. So we have to recharge during the tea break. Every other aspect, the range and the size of the battery, all come from that, because if you have enough energy to run around the track for 20 minutes, you’ll have enough energy for the Sunday morning ride.”

The problem is that the payment network in the car required to allow DC charging in public places, let alone AC at home, would add more weight and take up unused space. So these two cars, using the 400V architecture, ehthey rely on a special 150kW charging system that Caterham will take to the tracks while the cars are running.

Caterham is preparing something else

Also Laishley said that, “We are also building a show car, brand new stylewhich can use some of them as a platform for development”. We’ll see on July 12.

Could Caterham expand its model range with an all-new car for the first time since the 1990s? However, Caterham is looking for electric cars since after 2030 in the UK the rates of petrol cars are decreasing.

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