Is an electric Caterham Seven still lightweight?
Famous Lotus founder Colin Chapman said: “Simplify, then add lightness”. This philosophy came to fruition in the Lotus Seven, known in a slightly different form as the Caterham Seven since 1973. But does that still apply to an electric version of the sporty two-seater? Electric vehicles and lightweight construction generally do not go hand in hand.
As a manufacturer of lightweight sports cars, Lotus is breaking with the past, because the company now has a large (but lightning-fast) SUV in its range. So an electric SUV. The electrification of the car world is in full swing and the UK is also experimenting with an electric Caterham Seven.
Weight of the electric Caterham Seven
The automaker shows a concept of the EV Seven. The Caterham question, sorry, of course, is how much does he weigh? Surprisingly little. The brand states that the electric Caterham Seven weighs just 70kg more than the standard Caterham 485, bringing the total electric vehicle weight to just under 700kg. Still lightweight. Nice in combination with the power of around 240 hp and 250 Nm. The electric Seven is said to be able to sprint from 0 to 100 in less than 4 seconds and has a top speed of almost 210 km/h.
The Caterham EV Seven Concept – because that’s it for now – packs a 51kWh battery pack, of which there’s only about 40kWh net left. A bigger difference than is usually seen in electric car batteries. Caterham argues that the EV Seven needs a slightly larger buffer as the sports car is intended for track use.
Accu is having a hard time
Not only will the electric Caterham Seven be driven hard on the track, fast charging will follow. The British state that after twenty minutes of racing, fifteen minutes of fast charging with a maximum of 152 kW are enough for another twenty minutes on the track. In this way, the battery has to endure a lot.
If you can already imagine storming the racetrack in this electric vehicle, then you’re out of luck. While we’d also like to put this fast, light electric vehicle through its paces, the brand says an electric Caterham Seven will only continue to exist as a study model for the time being. So there are no plans (yet) to put this electric vehicle into production.