Caterham EV Seven concept revealed
Few cars embody the clubman spirit more so than a Caterham, a car that can trace its heritage back to the infamous Lotus Seven. The EV Seven is Caterham’s technology development concept for a future, fully electric Seven. It uses the existing Seven architecture combined with cutting-edge battery electric technology.
Caterham is targeting the EV Seven to be capable of a 20-15-20 track drive cycle: providing a 20-minute track session, followed by a 15-minute recharge to provide another 20-minute track session. One of the key challenges Caterham faces with the EV Seven is an increase in weight, which it hopes to limit to an additional 70kg compared to the current production Seven it is based upon. It uses a 51kWh immersion cooled battery pack capable of up to 152kW rapid charging.
The concept will test the feasibility of a lightweight electric Seven and enable Caterham to move a step closer to bringing a battery electric model to market that is as driver focused as its petrol counterpart.
EV Seven is being engineered in collaboration with Swindon Powertrain Ltd – a leader in the development of advanced and ultra-robust powertrains for both road and motorsport applications. EV Seven is based on the larger Seven chassis and features a bespoke version of Swindon Powertrain’s E Axle, combined with an immersion cooled battery pack.
Bob Laishley, CEO of Caterham, said: “Any future EV model we produce must be true to the DNA of a Caterham: lightweight, fun-to-drive and driver focused. The main objective for this project is to develop a vehicle with a weight delta of no more than the equivalent of having a passenger on board. We’re never going to launch a one tonne Seven – we’d rather not do it.”