Design and engineering business CALLUM has revealed a new electric sportscar fitted with batteries which it claims can be charged in just six minutes.
The Nyobolt EV was designed by Julian Thomson, the stylist who penned the original Lotus Elise in 1994. The new car is seen as an update and modernisation of that design.
It is a showcase for Nyobolt’s battery technology, which claims to be smaller, lighter and faster to charge and a solution to battery materials supply and degradation. In the Nyobolt EV, this translates into a 35kWh battery that is said to be capable of fully charging in just six minutes with existing rapid charger infrastructure, delivering a range of up to 250km.
Nyobolt says the battery has been tested for over 2,000 fast charging cycles without significant performance loss. The technology is set to go into production in early 2024, with a limited production run of the car but also in other battery-dependent applications such as home energy storage.
“The aim was to evolve the design and bring it up to date while keeping that iconic sports car character that was so well received in the Elise,” explains Aleck Jones, creative lead at CALLUM. “Nyobolt’s technology allows this car to tick all the boxes that made the original Elise such a desirable drivers’ car with a cult following, but it’s electric. These two things don’t usually come hand-in-hand due to weight and battery packaging constraints.”
There is no word on pricing or performance yet.