Preview: Caterham Electric Vehicle

Sportscar manufacturer Caterham may or may not produce an electric vehicle within the next six months. A bit ambiguous, sure, but small companies like Caterham certainly have a bit more leeway when it comes to introducing new models to the public, and company head Ansar Ali has reportedly admitted to Autocar that such a project is in the works... maybe. Says Ali:

We're trying to pull together some partners and there a lot who want to be associated with us. We want to do this properly and with the right partners, not just stick batteries in the back of a Seven.... We're still at a very early stage. We will consider it if it works although it would never be a volume product... We have no plans to produce an electric Seven. We're looking at motorsport applications but there's uncertainty as to whether an electric car could handle race conditions. Is there the technology yet to support it?

So, if Caterham does find that it's feasible to produce an electric sportscar, the new model would be intended for the racetrack only at first and would not be sold as a road-going vehicle wearing the Seven moniker. It's unclear what partners Caterham is working with, but we'd expect a relatively lightweight lithium-based battery of some sort to keep the car as nimble as possible. We'll keep on the lookout for more details if and when they become available.