British retro sports-car maker switches to electric power – report

The switch to electric power has now roped in one of Britain's oldest sports-car manufacturers.

Niche sports-car company Caterham – well known among car enthusiasts for its back-to-basics designs – is reportedly planning to build its first electric car to keep up with the times.

The Seven was originally built by Lotus between 1957 and 1972, before Caterham purchased the rights to build the sports car in the UK 50 years ago.

While Caterham holds the rights to the Seven’s original design and name, multiple companies produce similar copycat alternatives.

Caterham CEO Bob Laishley – former director of Nissan’s high-performance Nismo division – told UK magazine Autocar, the small firm plans to manufacture two electric cars to future-proof the business.

The executive told Autocar its first battery-powered sports car will be based on the timeless Seven while the second is destined to be an all-new roadster.

It’s not the first time Caterham has proposed the idea of a plug-in version of the Seven sports car.

Last year, long-time Caterham CEO Graham McDonald revealed the British marque had developed a battery-powered prototype last year.

Less than 18 months later, Mr Laishley has outlined Caterham’s survival plan beyond the UK’s ban of new petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2030.

Production of the petrol-powered Seven is expected to continue beyond 2030 through exports, with Caterham relying on its overseas customers to keep the sports car alive.

Over the past 12 months, Caterham Cars Australia has reported three Sevens as sold to local customers – less than one per cent of the British firm’s 500-car annual production capacity.

Mr Laishley told Autocar work on the electrified Seven project is “well under way”, although the company has not yet been asked by its customers to sell a battery-powered variant.

Caterham is also planning to develop an all-new two-seater which will run on a dedicated electric platform, complementing the Seven rather than competing against it.

“This will definitely not be a Seven,” Mr Laishley told Autocar. 

“But it’ll have all the characteristics today’s Caterham customers know well: lightness, simplicity, agility and performance.” 

“Like the Seven, it will have a steel space frame (chassis) because they’re easy to modify in production if you need to.

“It will be prettier and more modern than a Seven – those will be big points of distinction – and maybe it will have a roof. 

“We’re designing it as a pure EV (electric vehicle) from the start, with rear drive only, and it will be registered under SVA (single vehicle approval/kit-car) rules.” 

According to Mr Laishley, Caterham’s concept is “just an idea in people’s heads”, however the British marque’s new owner – Japanese automotive distributor VT Holdings – is keen for the company to build an electric car.

While the Seven is Caterham’s bread and butter, the car-maker has branched out from its core line before with the C120 sports coupe.

Revealed by Caterham Design in 2016, the C120 was intended to be twinned with a model from Renault-owned sports car company Alpine.

Caterham’s C120 failed to make it into production while Alpine released the A110, its highly-acclaimed coupe which departed Australian showrooms last year.