- Longbow is a new EV car company out of the UK that aims to launch two new sports cars.
- Dubbed the Speedster and the Roadster, they prioritize lightweight design above all else.
- Reservations are open for the Speedster starting at $110,000 and the Roadster at $84,000.
Celeritas Levitatis means the Speed of Lightness and it’s the hallmark of Longbow. This new automaker out of the UK believes that it has the solution for the overweight automobiles that crowd our streets. “Weight invites complexity, blunts agility, and dulls the senses,” it says. Fixing those issues required going back to the drawing board. What it’s come up with are two new electric sports cars that weigh less than a Mazda MX-5.
Meet the Speedster, an open-cockpit, windshield-free thrill machine, and the Roadster, which, somewhat counterintuitively given its name, has a fixed hardtop.
The Team Behind the Cars—and the Tesla Trolling
Longbow isn’t just a couple of enthusiasts in a garage with big ideas; it was actually founded by two former Tesla engineers, Daniel Davy and Mark Tapscott, along with the former CEO of an electric boat company. Their resumes include stints at Lucid Motors, BYD, Formula E, Lotus, Aston Martin, and Ariel—essentially, a greatest-hits lineup of performance and EV expertise.
And then there’s the name. Longbow’s Roadster is an undeniable swipe at Tesla’s long-hyped—and even longer-delayed—Roadster, which was supposed to debut in 2020, following the unveiling of a prototype even further back in 2017. Speaking to Top Gear, Daniel Davy made it clear that the name was a deliberate jab at Tesla’s continuously-delayed Roadster II.
“A lot of customers have put deposits down for a Roadster they can’t get,” Davy told the magazine. “So we thought we’d be the first electric Roadster to actually follow the Tesla Roadster. If people want to get their $250,000 deposit back for a 2020 car and put it into something better, they’ll get one sooner with us. They’re welcome to do it. Our Roadster’s going to be on the ground first.”
The Specs: Light, Fast, and Purpose-Built
First up is the Speedster. Devoid of a windshield or roof, the two-seater boasts an estimated range of 275 miles (WLTP). It’ll weigh just 1,973 pounds (895 kg) and rocket from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. That’s on par with some very fast supercars and identical to that of a Tesla Model Y Performance (though the latter is with a rollout).
More: Caterham’s CSR Twenty Is The Priciest, Most Premium Seven Ever
Once Longbow finishes production of the Speedster, which is scheduled to start early next year, it’ll move onto a hardtop version called the Roadster. The latter weighs a bit more at 2,193 pounds, so it’s 0.1 seconds slower to 60 mph. It will have five additional miles of range though, for a total of 280 miles. Those figures sound great, but Longbow still hasn’t said anything about battery size or motor configuration.
A New British EV Player—or Just Another Dream?
The company says that, apart from being the “first-ever British electric sports car manufacturer”, it also introduces “a new category that re-energises an iconic automotive archetype with the official unveiling of the world’s first Featherweight Electric Vehicle (FEV)”. It also proudly states that, with the Speedster and Roadster, it “offers a unique take on the rich British tradition of lightweight sportscars, focusing on real-road performance with an unparalleled driving experience”.
Pricing and Availability
Reservations are open for both models. The Speedster will cost around $110,000 (₤84,995), which include local UK VAT (tax), while the Roadster goes for $84,000 (₤64,995 with VAT). Longbow promises some special versions, like the Luminary 1st Edition and Autograph Edition, which will be limited to just 10 and 25 examples respectively. It’s also only going to make 150 examples of the Speedster, so interested parties might want to make a reservations sooner rather than later in order to secure an example.
It’s worth noting that these promises are sincerely grand. Viewing them with a pinch of salt or maybe more could turn out to be very wise. It’s honestly hard to count just how many different companies have popped up with a cool car concept only to end up falling by the wayside before building a single production car. Hopefully, Longbow has figured out the secret sauce and will make it. We’re all for more innovation and more fast cars.
