Caterham's Electric Sports Car Will Get Its Power From an Unlikely Source

Remember the Caterham Project V? The electric concept car debuted last year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with an impressively low curb weight of 2,623 pounds. But it was more than just a one-and-done exercise; The niche British brand has real plans to launch a production model. And now we know who will power the electric coupe: Yamaha

The concept is now evolving into a prototype engineered by Japanese firm Tokyo R&D. It will be powered by a Yamaha electric powertrain, and should be completed by the middle of next year, with series production expected to commence at some point in 2026. Caterham doesn't go into details about Yamaha's electric motor, but the original Project V concept was rear-wheel drive with 268 horsepower on tap.

The show car from Goodwood had a 2+1 layout but an optional 2+2 configuration was mentioned. Caterham touted a 0 to 62 mph in less than four seconds and a top speed of 143 mph. The coupe's 55.0-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery had enough juice for 249 miles in the optimistic WLTP cycle. The concept supported DC charging at 150 kilowatts for a 20% to 80% charge in around 15 minutes.

Because concepts are typically diamonds in the rough, Caterham borrowed bits and pieces from other cars to speed up the Project V's development without compromising quality. Examples include Maserati seats and the Audi TT's door aperture. Some readily available parts will be installed in the road-going model to cut costs.

Even though it never built its own car, Yamaha is no stranger to the automotive industry. It teased us with a Miata rival in the mid-2010s that never went into production. Going further back, it helped Toyota develop the 2000GT in the 1960s before engineering and manufacturing Ford's V-6 SHO and V-8 SHO.

Perhaps the most well-known effort in the car world was Yamaha’s involvement in the Lexus LFA and its naturally aspirated V-10. The list goes on with a V-8 for Volvo as well as four-cylinder engines for the Toyota Celica, MR2, and the Lotus Elise. There was also the pint-sized Motiv concept and the aborted 1992 OX99-11 supercar that was supposed to go into production a couple of years later with a roaring V-12.

Yamaha hasn't completely abandoned ICE technology. Recent efforts have included a golf cart and a buggy modified to run on a hydrogen-burning combustion engine.