FIRST LOOK: Caterham Project V: 268bhp electrified lightweight

Here’s some big British news for you – Caterham has unveiled a car with an actual roof. There’s more to the Project V concept than just its coupe shape of course, but for Caterham a tin top is a very big deal. Looking a bit like a cross between the Caterham C120 (the sports car that never was thanks to a failed joint-project with Alpine) and the Jannarelly Design-1 (Caterham’s recently appointed chief designer is none other than Anthony Jannarelly), Project V is a small, lightweight and simple EV. Sounds promising. At just over long, tall and a little under wide, it’s obviously a fairly hefty departure from the Seven, but thankfully Caterham hasn’t been drawn into the bonkers electric hypercar power war. So, a single, rear-mounted motor sends just 268bhp to the rear wheels and there’s a 55kWh lithium-ion battery that can rapidly charge at 150kW. That should mean a 20 to 80 per cent top-up in 15 minutes and a range of around 249 miles. The all-important weight figure? Thanks to a carbon fibre and aluminium composite chassis, plus composite body panels, Caterham is targeting 1,190kg – almost exactly the same as the combustion-engined Alpine A110. 0-62mph should take less than 4.5 seconds and top speed should be around 143mph. To find out more about Caterham’s future, join Top Gear Magazine’s Tom Ford for a full tour around Project V, guided by Caterham’s CEO, Bob Laishley. Subscribe to Top Gear for more videos: WATCH MORE TOP GEAR: First Looks:   First Drives: American Tuned ft. Rob Dahm: LISTEN to the Top Gear Magazine Podcast: Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:23 A Closer Look at Project V 04:01 Caterham CEO Bob Laishley 06:20 Why choose a ’modest’ hp? 08:19 Why this design? 09:28 The battery pack 11:00 The interior 14:15 Conclusion MORE ABOUT TOP GEAR: Welcome to the official home of Top Gear on YouTube. Here you’ll find all the best clips from your favourite episodes, whether that’s Ken Block drifting London in the Hoonicorn, Chris Harris in the latest Porsche 911 GT3 or classic Top Gear clips from Clarkson, Hammond and May. You’ll also find the latest performance car reviews from the crew, our brand new series American Tuned with Rob Dahm and the fastest power laps from our in house performance benchmark: The Stig. This is a commercial channel from BBC Studios. Service & Feedback