A brand new startup has emerged to tackle the problem of growing a light-weight electrical sports activities automotive.
U.Okay.-based Longbow on Wednesday supplied the primary particulars on its open-top Speedster and Roadster coupe, each of which it hopes to launch in 2026. It additionally confirmed the opening of reservations for each fashions within the U.Okay. (different markets weren’t mentioned), the place they’re going to even be constructed.
The pair of two-seat sports activities automobiles are primarily based on an aluminum chassis developed by Longbow with the goal of protecting weight to a minimal, within the spirit of basic small British sports activities automobiles. The focused curb weight is simply 2,200 kilos—featherweight for any automotive, particularly a contemporary EV.
Longbow Roadster
The Speedster is scheduled to reach first and targets a 0-62 mph time of three.5 seconds, whereas the Roadster is estimated to do the identical run in 3.6 seconds. Longbow expects 275 miles of WLTP vary for the Roadster and 280 miles for the Speedster; equal EPA numbers could be considerably decrease.
Costs begin at 84,995 British kilos (roughly $110,200 at present change charges) for the Speedster and 64,995 British kilos ($84,300) for the Roadster. Longbow plans to restrict Speedster manufacturing to simply 150 models, with a bigger, undisclosed manufacturing run for the Roadster. The primary examples of each fashions can be Luminary 1st Version and Autograph Version specials.
Longbow Speedster
Based in 2023, Longbow is led by Jenny Keisu, whose background is within the non-public fairness business, and Daniel Davey and Mark Tapscott, who each declare some auto business expertise. Davey did two stints at Tesla, the primary again in 2010 throughout the time of the unique Roadster sports activities automotive, and was additionally the primary Lucid worker primarily based exterior the U.S. Tapscott has labored at each automakers, in addition to BYD.
Longbow is not the one British firm growing a back-to-basics sports activities automotive with an electrical powertrain. Caterham—identified for the minimalist Seven—unveiled its Venture V idea in 2023, and final yr confirmed that it was working with Yamaha to develop a manufacturing model. The Venture V’s quoted weight of simply over 2,600 kilos is a bit heavier than what Longbow is aiming for, however maybe the Caterham may even be a bit inexpensive than Longbow’s sports activities automobiles.