The Ariel Motor Company and three partners have secured £300,000 ($367,534 USD at current exchange rates) from the U.K. government in order to develop an all-electric version of the Nomad.
While Ariel didn’t share a timeline for the project, it said they will use the money for the development of a new vehicle. The grant is conditional on it and its partners contributing at least the same amount to the development of the project, and will go towards conducting research into powertrains and batteries, according to the firm’s owner, Simon Saunders.
“Small-series manufacturers like us will get some kind of derogation of regulations that allows us to build our existing cars for longer,” Saunders told Autocar, “but I think we should be seeking zero emissions for moral reasons. At Ariel, we’re keen to do as much as possible to clean up the environment. It’s as much our responsibility as any other car manufacturer’s.”
Read: Ariel’s Limited-Run Nomad R Is Unlike Anything Else On Four Wheels
Ariel has big plans for the new variant of the Nomad. Saunders said that the electric off-roader will have to be “reliable and absolutely right.” In addition, it will have to be an improvement on the existing, internal combustion-powered Nomad, which could mean an all-wheel-drive powertrain.
Saunders said that the new vehicle will be better than the all-electric Atom project, which was “not quite as fast and three times as expensive” as the standard car, a result that will not be acceptable for its Nomad project.
Among the partners Ariel is working with for this project are Rockfort, a battery research company with strong ties to Formula E, and BAMD, a company that specializes in natural, recyclable composite materials, suggesting that the vehicle will be green all over, not just in its powertrain.
However, EVs are not Ariel’s only area of focus. The automaker is expected to launch an all-new version of its off-roader, dubbed the Nomad 2, in the coming months. As with the Nomad 1, it will continue to be powered by an internal combustion engine.
