Ariel Motor Company

Ariel Motor Company

Ariel Motor Company

Ariel Motor Company

Ariel Motor Company

If you watch Top Gear, you'll know the Ariel Motor Company. It's the British maker of the Atom, a mid-engined assortment of scaffolding that was dreamt up as a modern answer to the Lotus/Caterham Seven—the same car that gave Jeremy Clarkson an epiglottis full of bees. Ariel also makes the Nomad, an off-road version of the Atom that featured in Matt Le Blanc's Top Gear debut.

Both of those vehicles are utterly bonkers, stripped down to the very essence of a car but overloaded with excitement. Which makes us rather excited about the fact that the next four-wheeled thrill ride to emerge from its Somerset factory is going to be an electric vehicle.

This being Ariel, you can forget about it being a Tesla rival. No, this is a full-on EV hypercar, available in two- or four-wheel drive, with each powered wheel getting its own 220kW (295hp), 450Nm (332ft-lb) electric motor. Range should be pretty good, too; in addition to a 750V lithium-ion battery (with either 42kWh or 56kWh), there will be a 35kW turbine range extender. The chassis is an aluminum monocoque tub, and, once clad with carbon fiber bodywork (yet to be designed), it should tip the scales at about 3,500lbs (1,600kg).

At this point, I will forgive those of you starting to get a little skeptical. After all, this is Ariel we're talking about; it's very good at making very fast, very minimalist track cars, but series hybrid powertrains, lithium-ion batteries, and microturbines are a little outside its wheelhouse. But fear not, for this project—appropriately called HIPERCAR, for High Performance Carbon Reduction—is actually a collaboration between Ariel and another pair of companies. Equipmake is developing the electric motors, and Delta Motorsport is developing the batteries and turbine.

All the technical expertise in the world is useless without financial backing to pay for development, and that too appears to be covered. The UK has been using government funding to stimulate its low-volume car makers' transition to electric propulsion—last year we reported that Morgan was going electric, again with the help of Delta Motorsport—and this is yet another example of that approach, this time with funding from Innovate UK.

Autocar over in the UK got the scoop yesterday, interviewing Ariel's founder, Simon Saunders, who told it that the plan is to have the car finalized by 2019, with production starting in 2020. They'll be a little more luxurious than Ariel's current offerings—just having a roof and doors would satisfy that criteria, but the company is aiming for a "plush Le Mans car," with Saunders pointing to Italy's Pagani as an inspiration.

How much it will cost remains to be seen, but Saunders said that "when compared to £1m+ supercars, which it will outperform, it’s going to represent excellent value for money. This is the first true electric supercar that will cross continents, drive to town, and lap a race track."

Listing image by Ariel Motor Company