Caterham is working to safeguard the future of the Seven in the face of looming homologation and legislative hurdles – and is set to launch its landmark first EV in the coming years.
Caterham is working to safeguard the future of the Seven in the face of looming homologation and legislative hurdles – and is set to launch its landmark first EV in the coming years.
The British specialist brand was recently acquired by retail group VT Holdings, a division of which serves as the main importer of Caterham cars into the Japanese market.
CEO Kazuho Takahashi brought some 25 years of experience in high-profile motorsport, and Caterham CEO Graham Macdonald is confident that he’s committed to the survival of the brand.
“He loves the brand and he knows that we haven’t got endless money pits,” said Macdonald. “However, he’s determined to see this brand continue for another 50 years.”
Crucially, the acquisition will provide funding and security as Caterham gears up to launch a zero-emissions version of the Seven.
Macdonald affirmed that the priority is to ensure that any electric version of the diminutive two-seater “rides and handles like a Caterham”.
To that end, the ‘EV Seven’ will be developed with a focus on keeping weight down in an effort to preserve the model’s trademark agility and pace.
The suspension geometry and other aspects of the chassis will be recalibrated to mitigate the extra heft of the battery and electric motors, for example, and it will go without the weighty associated systems that are common on mainstream EVs, such as regenerative braking.
In line with reducing kerb weight, the EV will remain characteristically basic and is highly likely to maintain the Seven’s traditionally minimal, open-wheel silhouette.
A decision has yet to be made on whether the EV Seven will be “bigger, heavier and nicer to sit in” than the current variants or closely related in its concept, but Macdonald said that the latter is more likely.
Acceleration will be roughly on a par with today’s top-rung 620R, which can sprint from rest to 100km/h in just 2.79sec.
Macdonald has already driven a prototype version of an electric Seven. He said: “It’s very much like a go-kart: it’s two-pedal, you’ve got rapid acceleration and it’s a different product to drive. No less exciting, but exciting in a different way.”
However, before putting the EV Seven into production, Caterham is looking to sign a partnership deal with another manufacturer to secure a supply of batteries and motors, similar to the way in which it uses Ford-derived engines in its current production models.
Macdonald remained tightlipped on which companies Caterham could partner with but confirmed that he won’t look to secure a complete, ready-made architecture.
Felix Page