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Longbow Sports Car Targets Featherweight Fun
A British startup has announced a brace of electric sports cars with a focus on ‘the speed of lightness.’
That phrase, Celeritas Levita in Latin, is Longbow Motor’s motto and is reflected in the sub 1000-kg (2200 lbs) weight of its two-seater Speedster and Roadster EVs.
Both are built around an aluminum spaceframe chassis, clothed in bodywork that “reflects a blend of nostalgia and timeless allure”—another way of saying it looks a lot like a slightly shrunken Ferrari Monza. That’s not a bad thing, especially since the Longbow’s price tags are a mere fraction of Ferrari’s. The open-topped Speedster will set buyers back €84,995 ($93,000), while the fixed-roof Roadster is €64,995 ($71,000)
There’s no skimping on performance, however, with the 895-kg (1973 lbs) Speedster capable of reaching 62 mph from rest in 3.5 seconds, and the Roadster taking just 0.1 second longer thanks to an additional 100 kg (220 lbs). Both have a range of 275 miles according to the slightly optimistic European WLTP measure.
The Longbows are to be hand-built in Britain, and the company’s founders have backgrounds with Tesla, Lucid, BYD and the electric marine industry. The engineering team comes with experience at Formula E, Lotus, Aston Martin, Ariel, and Tesla.
“Amidst the e-mobility revolution, we have lost something important,” says Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Davey. “Many modern sports cars tip the scales at 1500kg and BEVs can reach almost double that. There is a need for a more driver-oriented, featherweight, electric sports car—one that is attainable and accessible, for those who love driving and the places it takes them. That is why we have created Longbow. Our first two cars, Speedster and Roadster embody everything a modern driver’s car should be: agile, balanced, electric, and exhilarating. We are reviving an icon, the lightweight British sports car.”
Speed to market is also a potential advantage with Longbow beating Caterham’s Project V, Alpine’s A110 replacement and Porsche’s Cayman/Boxster EVs.
The price isn’t unreasonable. I would be curious to see how something like this handles and accelerates.
Looks like they have taken a page from Caterham’s design idea from a couple of years ago. That’s a good thing.
It’s a fairly nice looking car and from the description, it sounds like it will be pretty sporty, but here’s the thing: I’m well aware there’s an electric car in my future, when my current daily driver dies I’ll probably replace it with an EV. But the prospect of buying one is about as interesting and exciting to me as buying a new washing machine or lawn mower. I’ll probably just buy a Nissan Leaf or a Chevy Bolt. I wouldn’t be keen on paying $90K for a car that only makes whooshing noises.
I wonder if they’ll be able to sell it in the USA. I’d think it might be challenging for a 2000 lb car to pass the current US crashworthiness standards.
EV and lightless is just opposite direction. you get lightless by having less battery which means your EV range is useless. ..unless battery tech changes, lightness is just a dream.