The unique Lotus Seven was an impressed idea. It was utterly, completely minimalistic, and thus in excellent maintaining with Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s philosophy of efficiency by gentle weight.

Right this moment, the legacy of the Seven rests with Caterham, and which means the corporate has the burden of reinventing the light-weight roadster for the electrical period, one thing that does not precisely jibe with Chapman’s philosophy.

The most important hurdle for Caterham is find out how to ship an electrical Seven as driver-focused because the gas-powered automotive. There’s additionally the problem of find out how to cram in sufficient batteries within the tiny Seven physique to make sure first rate longevity at observe speeds whereas nonetheless maintaining weight down. Caterham is up for the problem, although, and the corporate on Wednesday offered a style of what an electrical Seven is likely to be like with the reveal of the EV Seven idea.

The idea incorporates a single motor on the rear axle, producing a peak 240 hp. Its battery is a 40-kwh unit in a position to cost at as much as 152 kw utilizing a DC quick charger.

Caterham estimates the idea will dash to 60 mph in 4 seconds and prime out at 130 mph. The corporate additionally claims the curb weight is lower than 1,543 kilos, which is just about 250 kilos heavier than your typical Seven. Caterham’s weight goal is to roughly match the burden of a gas-powered Seven carrying a passenger.

“Any electrical Seven should be usable on each the street and observe,” Bob Laishley, Caterham’s CEO, mentioned in an announcement. “For the latter, this implies being able to a repeatable 20-15-20 drive cycle: the power to drive on observe for 20 minutes and recharge in quarter-hour with sufficient vitality to drive for an additional 20 minutes.

The EV Seven is not supposed for manufacturing however shall be used as a feasibility research for a future electrical Seven. It has been developed in partnership with Swindon Powertrain, an organization that develops powertrains for each street and race automobiles, and options an immersion cooled battery pack, which is new to the world automobiles (it is usually present in tremendous computer systems) and incorporates a design the place the cooling liquid is in direct contact with the battery cells.

The EV Seven idea will make its debut in July on the U.Ok.’s 2023 Goodwood Pageant of Velocity. Whereas it is not certain for manufacturing in its present type, Caterham is creating an electrical sports activities automotive that it intends to construct and promote within the close to future. The automotive is being labored on by proficient designer Anthony Jannarelly and is ready to be revealed later this yr.