British company Caterham Cars showed a prototype electric version of the legendary Seven, but it will not go into production yet. In parallel with the EV Seven, the company is developing another electric sports car with a completely new chassis and body.
We talked about Caterham's electric mobility plans last fall: then the current CEO of the British company, Bob Laishley, said that there was an urgent need not yet in electric trains, because only a few of Caterham's customers are willing to purchase an electric version of the Seven model. However, the company remains focused on the upcoming ban on new ICE vehicles in key markets and is preparing to switch to electric vehicles at the right time.
1/2 2/2Caterham engineers are currently working on two «green» models — an electric version of the «seven» (EV Seven) and a completely new electric sports car, which will probably be put into production before the EV Seven. The company will unveil the new sports car later this year, and this week the declassified EV Seven prototype was developed by Caterham Cars with longtime partner Swindon Powertrain, which makes high-performance powertrains for sports and racing cars, both hydrocarbon and electric.
The Caterham EV Seven prototype is made on a modified wide chassis of the «seven», the battery is placed vertically under hood and in the central tunnel, it was equipped with a complex immersion-type cooling system, that is, the coolant surrounds literally every cell — we have already seen a similar system on the production Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance.
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The sophisticated battery cooling system is designed for the extreme use of a sports car in race track conditions. The racing session is supposed to last 20 minutes, followed by a 15-minute break for a cup of tea and battery charging, then the sports car should again be ready for battle. A battery capacity of 51 kWh (of which only 40 kWh is available to the consumer) and 152 kW of maximum charging power is enough to implement the 20-15-20 formula.
A single electric motor located on the rear axle produces a maximum of 243 hp. and 250 Nm, it allows the sports car to accelerate to 60 mph (96.56 km/h) in 4 seconds, with a top speed of 209 km/h. The curb weight of the Caterham EV Seven is less than 700 kg, which is about 70 kg more than its gasoline counterpart. A gearbox with a self-locking differential is docked to the electric motor, Bilstein adjustable shock absorbers from the Seven 420 Cup gasoline version and powerful brakes with 4-piston calipers are installed in the suspension.
The Caterham EV Seven will be shown live in July at the Festival speed in Goodwood, but the company honestly says that it is not going to launch the electric «seven» into production yet, but will do it when the right moment comes, including from the point of view of technology — progress does not stand still and, perhaps, before With the release of the EV Seven, its performance will be significantly improved.
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