A British-based automobile start-up plans to launch a limited edition all-electric open sports car prior to Tesla’s delivery of their highly anticipated Roadster model.
Longbow Motors, established in 2023 by Daniel Davey and Mark Tapscott—both ex-employees of Tesla and Lucid with additional development expertise from China’s BYD—is currently accepting pre-orders. The company plans to begin production by 2026.
Fans of Tesla are still eagerly awaiting a new roadster from the company, which CEO Elon Musk had announced would be coming in 2020 and once more recently.
Musk stated that the new Roadster must follow projects with a more significant impact on global well-being.
The power delivered by an electric motor isn’t the issue for electric sports cars; instead, it’s the added weight that impedes their performance.
Longbow Motors aims to combat this issue with their "Featherweight Electric Vehicles" (FEV) concept. These lightweight electric sports cars will come in two versions: a convertible roadster and an open-top Speedster.
Although no official performance numbers or specific details have been provided, both vehicles are expected to accelerate rapidly to reach 100 km/h. These models utilize an aluminum chassis, resulting in curb weights of 995 kilograms for the coupe version and 895 kilograms for the convertible variant known as the Speedster.
"There is an urgent demand for a lightweight, driver-focused electric sports car that is both budget-friendly and available to enthusiasts eager to explore new horizons through driving. In response to this need, we created Longbow," stated co-founder and CEO Daniel Davey in a press release.
Davey was responsible for launching the Tesla Model 3 in Europe and became Lucid's initial official ambassador outside of North America. Tapscott focused on the development of the Lotus Elise.
The Longbow Speedster will be introduced as a limited release of 150 cars priced at approximately €102,000 each. Additionally, customers have the option to secure the Luminary 1st Edition and Autograph Edition models, with only 10 and 25 units available for each variant respectively.
