A new British sports car EV startup, Longbow, founded by the brains behind the explosion of BYD, Tesla and Polestar, has launched a pair of new ultra-lightweight electric sports cars at an “affordable” price.
British sports car manufacturers have a history of going downhill: Aston Martin has been dragged over the rocks financially for decades, Bentley was bailed by Volkswagen, TVR has been radio silent for years and Lotus fell into the clutches of the Chinese.
However, Longbow co-founders Daniel Davey and Mark Tapscott told Top Gear this week that through experience they have already calculated plans and finances regarding the production of their twin sporty EVs.
Meet the Longbow Roadster (with a roof) and Speedster (without a roof). These beautiful cars start at just £65k with a single 322 hp motor – which may not sound like much in this world of 2,000 hp EV missiles like the Rimac Nevera and Lotus Evija – but on the lighter side of a ton, these cars will pack a real punch.
As well as a 0-62 mph time in 3.5 seconds, the powertrain beneath the body will give drivers around 275 miles of fun (model dependent).
Design-wise, these cars look spectacular. Simple and sporty yet bold and innovative. There are elements of McLaren in the soft curvatures and TVR in the fascia and light housing. The two-tone finish looks stunning and likely even better in daylight.
Not only does this car’s presence arrive before the Lotus Emira EV and the controversial Cayman EV – but also long before the $250,000 Tesla Roadster which customers have been waiting for since their initial deposits in 2017. At just £65,000, this Longbow by the same name could be, from a driving sense, a brilliant alternative.
Davey and Tapscott explained the reason they make their cars affordable is simple: a Ferrari or Bugatti can sell at high prices because they are established brands, but to sell cars at first they need to be cheap, so they can be sold in volumes – exactly how the process went at Tesla and Lucid.
They are also able to sell affordably because they have not burdened themselves with the task of producing everything in-house. For example, motors and batteries are interchangeable should supplies become disrupted.
Knowledge and experience tells us Longbow should be able to make a splash in an otherwise quiet segment, against MG’s unique Cyberster, while creating a fresh and sustainable lineup of British sports cars.
MotorPost 
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