Caterham Project V a battery-electric coupe concept aiming for production

This is the Caterham Project V concept, a battery-electric three-seater coupe concept. The hardtop represents the company’s effort to expand and its exploration into how Caterham values of simplicity and lightness can be translated into the electric era. The Project V could end up being the first new Caterham model line almost 30 years, but that concept tag holds sway for now, hence the in-progress naming scheme. We’ll start with the skin, designed by Anthony Jannarelly. We last covered a Jannarelly creation when the Design-1 coupe and roadster launched in 2019, his pen put to work on the Lykan Hypersport and Fenyr SuperSport before that. Autocar reports Caterham asked for sketches from six designers, Jannarelly’s idea, with notes from classics like the Lotus Elan and Lotus 40 race car, won.

The composite body panels cover 167.6 inches of length, 75.2 of width, and 49.8 inches in height on a 101.8-inch wheelbase. That’s about six inches shorter, five inches narrower, and two inches lower than the current Porsche 718 Boxster, but on a wheelbase 4.7 inches longer. The extra space between the axles has been used as space for a third occupant. As standard, the Project V would come with 2+1 seating, the third seat centrally placed and really only meant for a child or someone of slight stature. The idea is that an owner with a child doesn’t need to sacrifice the Caterham. If all goes to plan, 2+2 seating will be an option.  

Caterham commissioned Italdesign to engineer the design into a roadgoing vehicle; Italdesign attached the composite body panels to a wholly new chassis fashioned from carbon fiber and aluminum. To keep occupants seated low in the cabin, engineers split the 55-kWh lithium-ion battery pack into two modules. One bundle sits ahead of the instrument panel bulkhead, the other sits behind the cabin. This a novel unit with prismatic cells that aren’t used in any vehicles at the moment, so there’s testing to be done there before approval. The pack can be recharged from 20% to 80% in 15 minutes. It powers one motor, a 268-horsepower unit on the rear axle, to an estimated range of 249 miles on the WLTP cycle.

These could seem like exceptionally modest numbers, but remember that Caterham’s goal is always lightness and agility. Target weight for the Project V is 2,624 pounds with fluids, which is at least 416 pounds less than the 718 Boxster. Right now, it’s said the Project V weighs about 220 pounds more than the target, reinforcing the conceptual nature.

There are double wishbones with adjustable dampers all around, suspending 19-inch wheels in front, 20-inch wheels in back. Tires come from the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S family, the wheel and tire combo being the largest ever bolted to a Caterham. At the target weight, getting from zero to 62 miles per hour is estimated to take less than 4.5 seconds, terminal velocity calculated to be 143 mph.    

The interior sticks to the company ethos, a digital gauge cluster paired with an infotainment screen running Apple CarPlay. Trunk space is enough for two adults to get away for the weekend. 

Caterham intends to put the Project V into production largely as is. CEO Bob Laishley said, “We’ve set out from the beginning that this is what we want to make. When we move to the production phase, there will be little or no change, certainly to the overall shape. Some things will change: the aero – there has been no aerodynamic study done on this yet – and angles of attack for the spoilers and bits and pieces. We will need to refine some bits and pieces for homologation. But essentially, this is our first shot at a production car. It just so happens it’s a model.”

Getting all the bits in place, from the aero testing to the financing, could take three years. Right now, the production version of the Project V is guessed to run less than £80,000 mark ($103,195 U.S.). That’s a few grand more than a 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, but might be closer to the battery-electric 718 Cayman when the new German arrives. No matter where the price lands, Caterham intends the Project V to land in the U.S. market.