► Caterham Project V reveals battery tech
► Promises life beyond the Seven
► Partnering with Yamaha on powertrain
The Caterham Project V electric sportscar has taken another step towards production with the announcement of Xing Mobility as the supplier of its battery technology. This follows the news earlier in 2024 that Caterham Cars is using Yamaha e-axle technology to provide the driving force.
A working prototype of the Project V coupe is set to completed in 2025, with development assisted by both Yamaha and Tokyo R&D Co. Ltd. Caterham is owned by Japanese automotive group VT Holdings, and the Project V is set to make its next public appearance at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January.
Who or what is Xing Mobility, and why has Caterham chosen these batteries?
Xing Mobility are a Taiwanese firm, founded by ‘veterans’ (as the corporate website puts it) of Tesla and Panasonic. It’s a lithium ion battery pack manufacturer, pioneering immersion cooling technology that it calls Immersio Cell-to-Pack.
This places the battery cells inside a dielectric liquid, creating an environment of increased safety and ‘top-class’ energy density by enabling rapid and uniform heat-dissipation. If you want to build an electric sportscar that properly relates to Caterham long-standing ethos of lightweight performance, getting as much energy as possible from as little weight as possible is a pretty good idea.
That said, the claimed 200 watt hours per kilogram (wh/kg) of the Immersio technology isn’t that high, even by current standards. Tesla, for example, is reputedly close to 300wh/kg already. We’re therefore intrigued to see how the Caterham Project V will continue to develop.
There are other lightweight sporting EVs on the horizon, including the Electrogenic Mazda MX-5 conversion.
What’s Yamaha got to do with the Caterham Project V?
‘The collaboration with Yamaha will not only deliver a powertrain to match the expectations of what an all-new Caterham should be, but confidently accelerate the delivery of Project V to the market,’ says Caterham in a statement in October 2024.
Caterham Cars CEO, Bob Laishley, told CAR at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed: ‘We want this in production in 2026.
‘Project V is not just a concept or design study, we’ve conducted engineering and production feasibility throughout the development process,’ Laishley adds. ‘Project V fulfils our ambition to sustainably grow the company and explore electrification simultaneously. Subject to the next phases of development and technical capability, Project V could be brought to market towards the end of 2025 or early 2026 with a target price starting from less than £80,000.’
Back up a step – what are we looking at here?
A car from Caterham that doesn’t look how you expect it to. The Project V concept, as it’s currently named, features an enclosed roof and wheels as well as an all-electric powertrain. The A110-sized sports car is our first look at what Caterham could (and might need to) look like in a post-electrified world.
While the Project V doesn’t look like a traditional Caterham, the brand says it promises to keep to the values of the company. ‘A Caterham Seven’s design is simple and minimalist, it’s designed for its intended function, to be lightweight and fun to drive,’ said the brand’s new chief designer Anthony Jannarelly. ‘With Project V, we’re applying this philosophy to the sports coupé architecture to create a seducing and timeless silhouette. Every single feature has to justify itself from a weight perspective to maintain lightness and optimise driver engagement.’
For that reason, the Project V’s silhouette has been determined exclusively by what’s underneath. The result is a car with flowing lines, and minimal overhangs and a face not unlike its designer’s own creation, the Jannarelly Design 1. There are flourishes of design around the car, with Caterham’s chief designer also tapping into aspects of the old Lotus Elan. Kazuho Takahashi, president and CEO of VT Holdings and Caterham’s owner, has a soft spot for the old British sports car.
What’s underneath then?
The Project V concept debuted in 2023 with a 200kW motor on the rear axle and pairs it with a 55KWh battery. The 0-62mph takes 4.5 seconds before a top speed of 143mph, and Caterham engineers have targeted a WLTP range of 249miles. Charging from 20 to 80 per cent should take just 15 minutes provided you have a 150kW charger, and it’s also possible to have the Caterham in a 2+1 or 2+2 configuration.
The crucial figure here is the weight; Caterham has targeted a kerb weight of 1190kg, making it one of the lightest EVs on the market. That featherweight figure has been achieved with a carbonfibre and aluminium composite chassis.
How exactly is Yamaha involved?
After reveal, the Caterham Project V has been undergoing feasibility studies, as the brand weighs up and formulates a business case for the new lightweight EV. Cost-saving has been considered even in the concept, but there will now be an even greater focus on making the car as easy to to produce as possible.
As well as including a Yamaha ‘e-Axle’, Caterham says the production version of the Project V will include ‘vehicle motion technology’ from Yamaha.
Caterham’s new chief designer will also play a key role in the road to production: ‘I’m like a custodian of the shape,’ Jannarelly told CAR at Goodwood. ‘I need to make sure this shape will go into production.’
‘You will see some slight change on the back edge, for example. I have to make everything which we [do] is close to what we show today. That’s key because otherwise people will say it’s not the car we saw two years ago [when it goes to production]. So that’s always a challenge.’
Target: 2026
The Project V real and on sale in 2026 – an extremely short timeline from sketch to road – but Laishley is confident it’s achievable. And that’s partly down to Caterham’s size: ‘Based on my experience working with a big OEM, Caterham is much more agile,’ Laishley admits. ‘Decisions can be made much much quicker implemented faster. So the infotainment system: we just decided it’s iPhone mirroring. We can make that bold decision, at the bigger OEM the discussion will be well, we need our own embedded system because we can’t rely on that.’
‘Project V isn’t instead of Seven, it’s complimentary to it, and we believe that by retaining the core Caterham values, it will appeal to both our existing customer base and attract new fans to the brand,’ Laishley explained. ‘By using a more practical coupé body style and by exploiting the packaging benefits of an EV, this is a car that works as well for trips to the shops, or the school run, as it does for Sunday morning sprints.’