Caterham Project V brings lightness to EVs

If you know Caterham, then you’re already thinking ‘hang on… this thing has a roof!’ The storied British carmaker (owned by a Japanese retail group since 2021) is famous for its two-seat open-top 7-styled roadsters, but this Project V prototype moves the company firmly into the new century.

And Caterham hasn’t moved far from its lightweight roots. The most interesting element of the two-door, two-seat rear-driver concept is not the fact it’s powered by a 200kW electric motor on the rear axle; it’s the fact that, even with a 55kWh battery, the car is purported to weigh just 1190kg.

“Project V is not just a concept or design study, we’ve conducted engineering and production feasibility throughout the development process,” said Bob Laishley, CEO of Caterham Cars Ltd and COO of the newly established Caterham Evo.

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“An electric Caterham of any shape and size has to stay true to what sets us apart from everyone else: being lightweight, simple and offering an unparalleled driving experience; that’s our DNA.”

With 200kW on tap at the rear wheels, it makes for a very handy road-carving device. Caterham says its projected 0-100km/h time will be around 4.5 seconds and it will boast a claimed top speed of 230km/h, and of course all of the torques will be available from rest, making for some very fun times.

And that smaller battery won’t take as long to charge, either, with Caterham suggesting it can be juiced up from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in 15 minutes. Its low-slung shape should also ensure its range isn’t overly impacted by air resistance.

Speaking of distance travelled, its claimed projected range is an impressive 400km.

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Elsewhere, weight has been minimised via the use of a carbon fibre/aluminium chassis, composite panels and fly-by-wire steering.

A set of 20/21-inch staggered wheels hangs from multilink suspension front and rear, and owners can muck about with castor, camber, toe and ride height to their heart’s content.

Inside, the concept car sports a cool three-up seating arrangement with a single rear-seat passenger pew, while its digitial instrumentation is minimal and driver-focused.

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The Project V is still in concept form, but Caterham’s top brass reckons it will be in production by late 2025. What’s more, its projected price of under GBP80,000 (around $150,000) will put it in a very interesting place in the burgeoning performance EV market.

Rivals will include MG’s inbound Cyberster roadster, but with most other carmakers targeting big power and longer ranges for their sports-centric EVs, the crew at Caterham may well be onto something here.