Well it had to happen sooner or later; an old-skool traditional British racer style electric vehicle to blow the wind through your hair on those lovely warm lush green English summer days. Morgan may have just given us a sneak peak of one of the best ideas the company has ever had…
The Morgan EV3 will appear in the final part of 2018 (hopefully before winter sets in) and is an open top – or open everything – 3-wheeler. It is actually, not unsurprisingly, the first foray into electric vehicles that Morgan has undertaken and is perhaps further testament to just how much electric vehicle technology has come on in the past 4 or 5 years.
The EV3 will have a range of around 150 miles which is about half of what manufacturers are proudly boasting for their new vehicles these days, but to raise an eyebrow at this would be much the same as complaining that there isn’t enough boot space – it’s missing the point. I’d say a 150-mile range is perfectly adequate for a Sunday afternoon jaunt around the country lanes; this surely is a car built for short bursts of fun, after all.
Morgan has already given us an array of 3-wheel sports cars in its illustrious history, including the handsome fossil-fuelled Morgan 3 Wheeler, which the EV3 is based on. The 3 Wheeler, retailing at around £31,000, gives us a 5-speed gearbox and a 0-60mph of 6 seconds and a comfortable cruising speed of around 80mph. To be honest, anything above 30mph in a small, totally open automobile is going to feel exhilarating!
The Morgan EV3 is a lightweight machine tipping the scales at under 500kg (or 500 bags of sugar) despite the not-so-light powertrain, but all the carbon fibre – another first for Morgan, helps with the low weight.
Tech spec figures are sparse at the moment as the car is still undergoing testing, but Morgan say that we can expect a 0-62mph of less than 9 seconds and a top speed of more than 90mph – though to me that sounds plenty; in equal measures, both scary and exciting. All the power comes from a 20kWh lithium battery and the (rear wheel driving) 46kW motor is liquid cooled.
The body is mainly carbon fibre but also features some lightweight aluminium panels as well, all hand worked and wrapped around a wooden ash frame.
The EV3 is a zero emission hand-made, UK built, bespoke bundle of fun, inspired by the racing cars of the 1930s – that tail lift comes directly from the 3-wheel racers that Morgan built in the thirties. Inside, the car utilises a digital screen without sacrificing any of its nostalgic retro feel, thanks to copious amounts of brass, wood and polished aluminium.
No pricing details as yet, but we can expect the Morgan EV3 to compete with the 3 Wheeler at around £31,000.
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