Caterham shifts gears with Yamaha's help

Caterham shifts gears with Yamaha's help

As far as barebones driving pleasure is concerned, Caterham leads the way. The Caterham factory is well-known for its extensive collaboration with Lotus and development of kit cars that people want to buy. The formula is simple: Make it small, light, and as enjoyable as possible. But, ahead of the global demand for electrification, the decision was made to invest in the future. With the help of a globally recognised brand, Yamaha, there is an EV sports coupe on the horizon called Project V. 

Until now, Project V was nothing more than an idea in the form of a prototype. It debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and was later shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Normally, in these circumstances, a brand would conduct additional research and development to bring this product to market. This is a big step away from Caterham’s tiny open-wheel rockets, which it intimately understands. So, in order to avoid meeting its new horizon with a half-baked product, the brand sent out a signal to the clouds for a hero to pitch in.

In this position, brands would reach out to an OEM or established power unit and vehicle design company, such as Cosworth. Oddly enough, the decision was made to develop its electrifying new model in partnership with Yamaha. No, Project V is not going to resemble the shape of a grand piano, nor will the terms 4-stroke or CC be present in its description. In fact, Yamaha has played a large role in the creation of some of our favourite moments in motoring history. For example, many consider the Lexus LFA to be the best-sounding car ever produced, and guess who designed the exhaust? I'm not going to spell it out for you. 

Yamaha has dabbled in the EV world before, and they were responsible for developing the Hyper-EV traction motor, which was used in the Subaru STI-RA. In case you didn’t know, the STI-RA was designed to dethrone the VW ID.R. from the Nürburgring EV lap record. So it's safe to say that Yamaha knows what it's doing when designing fast EVs. The firm also has a better ability to mass manufacture vehicles than Caterham, ensuring that vehicles are completed and manufactured in a shorter time frame.

In the Project Vs case, lightness is one of the Caterham commandments, and to ensure this fundamental characteristic remains present in its new sports car, the cutting-edge Yamaha e-axle proved to be the solution to keeping the weight down. This e-axle is a lightweight, compact electrical powertrain that promises to uphold another of Caterham's commandments: it must be enjoyable to drive. So with a claimed 0-100km/h time of sub-4.5 seconds and a top speed of 230km/h, it's already proving to be quite an exciting car. 

To rattle off a few more stats on the Project V, it boasts a range of 400km and out of its 55kWh battery. On a power front, the e-axle pushes 200kW through the rear wheels, while the car weighs only 1,190kg, which is light for an ICE sports car, let alone an EV. It will also cost around R1,846,000, but don't expect it to make its way to SA anytime soon. 

The creation of this vehicle, paired with the combination of both Caterham and Yamaha technology, has been placed on the brand, Tokyo R&D, so its development is in capable hands. Tokyo R&D has extensive experience developing OEM prototypes and production vehicles, providing the tools required to develop a quality product.

Project V is set to be completed by mid-2025 and speaks to the new direction of Caterham as a brand. Although it's not as British as a few might have hoped, it's exciting to see Caterham finally diversify its lineup and offer something other than its still-brilliant, open-wheeled heroes of old. Yes, it's an EV, but in this case, too many cooks won't spoil this broth but rather add a funky, new, and green sports car to an otherwise boring EV selection. As for what we can expect from Project V, this is the brand's first foray into this direction, so there is room for both enormous success and, possibly, a spill; however, we are excited to see what Caterham will do with the final product.

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