Electric Caterham Seven: 322bhp track car weighs just 700kg

An electrically powered Caterham Seven sports car is being primed, and two prototypes have made their debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. 

The cars will look to match the 3.4sec 0-62mph performance of a 237bhp Seven 485, have enough battery power to perform flat out on track for 20 minutes and be able to fully recharge via a 150kW charger in 15 minutes. 

It “dips our toe in the water” of EVs, Caterham CEO Bob Laishley told Autocar, adding: “We’re relying heavily on working with partners.” 

The prototypes, which have been prepared by British Touring Car Championship engine builder Swindon Powertrain, are part of Caterham’s preparation for where legislation or parts availability might take it. 

“This is not something we are selling tomorrow,” said Laishley, who was in charge of Nismo, Nissan’s performance car range, before joining Caterham in July last year. 

“We’ll do it at the right time, which is when we can make a business case for it.” There are already some customer enquiries but at the moment, he said, “we haven’t got a queue of people”. 

Creating an EV that can cope with the demands of a race track in a lightweight sports car form “is the complete opposite of what everyone thinks about making EVs” and is one of the hardest use cases to develop. 

The electric prototypes feature a wide-bodied latest-generation Seven chassis, with the engine and transmission swapped out for a 50kWh (38kWh usable) battery. 

Elsewhere, a 322bhp electric motor and limited-slip differential are packaged where the boot would usually be and incorporate a Seven’s de Dion rear suspension.