- Caterham, a low-volume British automaker, is bringing an electric two-door sports car to the United States.
- The production version of the Project V show car is scheduled to go on sale stateside next year.
- The EV will have a Tesla-style NACS charging port and an unusual battery setup.
The next-generation Tesla Roadster has been stuck in limbo ever since it made headlines back in 2017, which leaves people who want a small and light electric sports car with little to no options.
That could change soon, though, as a little-known low-volume carmaker from the United Kingdom is gearing up for the launch of its first-ever battery-powered four-wheeler. That automaker is Caterham, which is known for its gas-powered Lotus Seven-inspired homage, and the EV in question is known as the Project V.
The show car was first unveiled in 2023, but it landed in the United States for the first time this week at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, where the boutique manufacturer didn’t mince words about securing a foothold here.
“We have ignored America as a market for 50 years, and that’s ridiculous, because you guys are all loaded,” said Justin Gardiner, Caterham Cars’ overseas representative, for Car and Driver. “We’re going to take America very seriously as of this week. We are looking to sell a lot of these over here.”
The production version of the Project V is scheduled to go on sale next year as a simple, thrill-inducing sports car. The specs are decent, but not earth-shattering, and that’s on purpose. There’s a single 268-horsepower (200-kilowatt), 400-volt electric motor at the rear, a 55-kilowatt-hour battery split in two, and the bare minimum when it comes to electronic driving assists. Because it’s a new vehicle, it will need to have ABS, traction control and airbags, but that’s about it.
Inside, there’s a small touchscreen on the center console for things like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the rearview camera display, but the dashboard itself is a flat, basic surface, and the instrument cluster is analog.
Caterham wants to use as many off-the-shelf parts as possible to keep costs down and make it easier to build. The e-motor with an integrated inverter comes from Yamaha Motor, the split battery pack is sourced from Xing Mobility, and the early prototype had the same door aperture as the Audi TT, while the seats were identical to those used by Maserati.
The battery enables a WLTP-estimated range of 249 miles on a full charge, while the maximum charging power is capped at 100 kW. Neither of these specs are groundbreaking, but Caterham doesn’t really care.
“We don’t really care about charging time,” Gardiner told Car and Driver. “We care about discharge time. If somebody’s draining those batteries really, really fast, a lot of EVs will go into limp mode because they’re overheating. We know our customers are going to do that. We just know they are. So we have to make the battery packs work.”
Gallery: Caterham Project V Electric Coupe
The battery itself is split into two individual packs that can house a little over 27 kWh each. One is fitted in front of the passenger cabin, while the other is at the rear. As a result, the seating position is extremely low, as is typical of a combustion sports car.
Initially, the production version of the Caterham Project V was supposed to start from $107,000. Now, though, with everything that’s happening in the world, that’s no longer possible, so the new estimate is around $135,000.
That’s quite a lot of money for what is essentially a second car for the weekends, but Caterham reckons it’s just the right price, especially considering that Porsche is preparing to debut the electric versions of the Cayman and Boxster, which will be the Project V’s main rivals.
“I don’t think $130,000 is outrageous in any way,” Gardiner said. “I think not only us, but a lot of people are sitting around waiting for Porsche to finally pull the trigger on their EV Boxster and Cayman.” Whatever Porsche’s EVs end up costing, Caterham’s rep is confident that the Project V will be more fun to drive.
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