In the EV era, automakers tend to prioritize luxury, size, and all-out performance that electric power unlocks. Multiple EVs now boast 0-60 times below two seconds, truly breathtaking acceleration that borders on becoming physically painful for passengers to experience. But unleashing so much power without sacrificing range requires larger batteries, which then requires beefier components throughout the vehicle, in a vicious cycle of compounding mass.
As EV technology improves, one company founded by former Tesla and Lucid employees aims to leverage the benefits of reduced weight to reintroduce driving joy into the world of electric vehicles. Ahead of deliveries slated to begin later this year, UK-based Longbow Motors recently brought the firm’s Speedster prototype to a private soiree in the hills of Montecito, California, for client and media impressions.
In person, the car actually occupies a larger footprint than expected from early photos—think less Mazda Miata or Ariel Atom and more similar to a ¾-sale Ferrari Monza SP1 or, as historically relevant for a British automaker, a 1950s Jaguar XKSS. Design inspiration from those al fresco icons definitely shines through, as the Speedster lacks a windshield entirely. Upon closer inspection, the classic proportions give way to more modern wheel arches reminiscent of a Ferrari 12Cilindri, sinewy side skirts similar to an Aston Martin Vanquish, and dual headrest cowls giving way to a tidy, tucked tail. Inside, the biggest surprise should come as a relief for anyone accustomed to driving modern EVs: not a touchscreen in sight, and minimal switchgear cluttering up the dash.
Longbow clearly decided to keep the driver’s interactions with the Speedster as simple as possible. Yet the engineering also takes advantage of EV packaging, so the cockpit feels spacious inside despite the diminutive size. The batteries run down the spine of the undercarriage, to both improve the center of gravity as well as lower the seat rails, rather than sitting above a more typical “skateboard” EV layout. A single rear drive unit for the rear axle uses off-the-shelf motor, transmission, and inverter components for an in-house developed solution that further contributes to a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio.
“With EVs in general, you get such power density and power-to-weight ratios,” cofounder and CEO Daniel Davey told duPont Registry, “But what you can do with that shouldn't be more power, it should mean less weight with the same power. So for us, we're all about stripping out weight and complexity from the vehicle, and we're able to leverage this democratization of power in EVs.”
“Speed-lightness is the vehicle itself, endeavoring that the car itself is fast because it's light,” Davey continued. “But it's also for us as a company, because we operate fast. So how do you strip away weight and complexity at a company level, so that you can quickly deliver cars that are also light.”
The spirit of lightweighting might help with straight-line sprinting, though with no dual-motor all-wheel-drive traction and a restrained, yet rational range of 240 miles—plenty for a Sunday morning canyon rip—Longbow claims 400 horsepower allows for a 0-60 time of “just” 3.5 seconds. That might seem downright sluggish compared to a Rimac Nevera, for example, but the Croatian hypercar with 1,914 horsepower also weighs 5,071 pounds.
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Longbow targeted a curb weight below one ton, and the Speedster tips the scales at just 1,963 pounds. Carrying momentum in the corners becomes the name of the game in such a featherweight—think Lotus more than Lamborghini. Davey emphasized the sensation of wind in the face, whipping through tight switchbacks, the whine of electric power and the wallop of instantaneous torque more than making up for any lost internal-combustion soundtrack.
“The sound of the powertrain is going to come through when you're driving the car, and that's important for us as well,” Davey laughed. “In an open-top car, when you're going above 40 miles an hour, you can't hear a V12 anyway. So the driving will do the talking.”
A planned hardtop version to follow looks even more stylish than the Speedster, though may detract somewhat from the raw aesthetic and experience. And Davey admitted that the prototype on display will evolve slightly, with chronograph-inspired gauges on the steering column, a new shifter, and revised interior ergonomics. Longbow plans for a limited production run of just 150 units for each model to qualify as a low-volume manufacturer.
Pricing that starts at $87,000 sounds even more enticing for such a unique proposition. For now, nothing on the market anywhere quite matches the Speedster’s attributes—at least until (or if) Porsche finally confirms the heavily delayed Boxster and Cayman EV successors. Whether enough buyers will flock to Longbow’s analog vision of the electric future remains a question, as does the ability of a startup to maintain quality standards equal to a legacy OEM like Porsche. But if the proposed timelines work out, expect UK and Europe deliveries to begin later this year, before American pre-orders start to arrive in Q2 of 2027.
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Images: Michael Van Runkle
