Boutique British sports car manufacturer Ariel has gone green.
Most famous for the lightweight Atom that turned Jeremy Clarkson’s face inside out on Top Gear, it’s revealed an electric version of its Nomad off-road sports car – although it’s only a concept for now.
The E-Nomad is powered by a liquid-cooled Borg Warner electric motor making 210kW of power and 490Nm of torque, down by 17kW and 30Nm on the 2.3-litre petrol engine from the Nomad 2.
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The 60mph (97km/h) sprint takes a claimed 3.4 seconds, and Ariel says the E-Nomad will do 241km on a full charge of its 41kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
Ariel hasn’t quoted a peak DC charge speed, but claims a 20 to 80 per cent charge will take 25 minutes.
Tipping the scales at 896kg, the E-Nomad is very light by electric car standards… but a whopping 180kg more than the petrol model.
Outside, the green paint isn’t the only change to the Nomad. A set of natural flax fibre body panels designed to extend range by improving aerodynamics has been fitted.
Ariel claims they cut drag by 30 per cent, and every extra bit of drag counts when it comes to EV range.
“While the E-Nomad is a concept, it does show production intent for the vehicle and hints at just a small part of Ariel’s future,” according to Ariel director Simon Saunders.
“Once it has been through our usual, gruelling testing regime we could opt to add E-Nomad alongside its ICE Nomad 2 sibling.”
Ariel isn’t the only boutique British brand to be looking towards an electric future.
Caterham used the Project V to hint at an EV with “the potential” to hit production in 2025 or 2026, with a new look that deviates significantly from the legendary Seven.
The Project V is powered by a single rear-mounted electric motor producing 200kW of power that’s fed by a 55kWh lithium-ion battery pack. It’s claimed to do the 0-100km/h sprint in less than 4.5 seconds and flat out you’ll be doing 230km/h.
Caterham quoted a WLTP range of 400km, and claimed it can be charged from 10 to 80 per cent in 15 minutes when plugged into a 150kW DC fast-charger.
The electric coupe concept has a targeted kerb weight of 1190kg, which will apparently be achieved thanks to a carbon-fibre and aluminium composite chassis.
