For more than 50 years, the English automaker Caterham Cars has been producing critically acclaimed sports cars, often drawing inspiration from Lotus models, for a small but enthusiastic audience. In 2023, they announced an ambitious foray into electric vehicles with the Project V, Caterham’s first design from scratch. As Road & Track reported at the time, a prototype turned up at Goodwood, with plans for it to hit production in 2025.
That schedule has shifted since then, but at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, Caterham revealed an updated prototype for the Project V — and shared more details about when and where it will be available for sale.
What separates this from Caterham’s earlier prototype? In the announcement, the automaker described it as having “specifications closer to a production vehicle, strongly focused on mass production readiness.” That includes certain design elements being changed so that they comply with different countries’ vehicular regulations. Another way in which the prototype Project V has evolved includes the organization of the seating, which has settled into a more conventional layout of two seats in the front and two seats in the back.
“This next step enables us to begin a comprehensive vehicle testing program in collaboration with our technical partners,” said Caterham Cars CEO Kazuho Takahashi in a statement. “Our objective remains unchanged: to realise our vision of a pure electric sports car that embodies the unmistakable DNA of a Caterham.”
All of that sounds very enticing — but the Tokyo Auto Salon announcement doesn’t go into specifics about an actual on-sale date. Writing at Car and Driver, Sebastian Blanco has some useful information on that front, however — according to what a company representative told Car and Driver, Caterham has plans to make more of a push into the U.S. market with the Project V. Blanco reports that Caterham is now targeting 2027 for the Project V to be widely available, with a price of around $135,000.
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