British niche carmaker Caterham has begun the pre-production tests of its battery-powered Project V coupe announced way back in 2022. You can check it out in the short official video.
It looks like the final car will be significantly different from the original concept. In particular, it rocks a different radiator grille and rather conventional-looking taillights instead of the concept’s LED ovals. According to the automaker, the modifications were necessary to simplify certification in certain markets.
A rather big design change took place in the cabin as well. When it debuted, the Project V only had three seats inside – two in the front row and just one in the back. It looked rather odd, so we’re frankly not surprised to see this layout dropped in favor of a standard four-seat one. That, and Caterham apparently couldn’t resist slapping a digital touchscreen on the dashboard, which looked purely analog in preview pics from four years ago.
In earlier news, we learned that the coupe relies on a single e-motor to propel it with 270 PS (267 hp / 200 kW) or so. Sprinting from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) should take around five seconds, per the automaker. The battery should also be lightweight enough to deliver 402 km (250 miles) of range according to the European standard. Note that all these numbers are preliminary and subject to change.