Will the Longbow EV Beat the Long-Awaited Tesla Roadster to Market?

• Longbow is a new EV startup company that aims to build lightweight electric sports cars in the U.K. as early as 2026.
• The open-top Speedster comes first, and it's claimed to weigh just 1973 pounds and provide a range of roughly 233 miles.
• The Roadster comes next with a claimed 2194-pound curb weight and a starting price of around $84,000.

Electric vehicles are well suited to many people's daily needs, such as the commute to work or running errands. They're smooth and quiet, and the 30 to 50 miles that most people drive each day can be easily replenished with at-home charging overnight. But making EVs fun to drive and enticing for enthusiasts has proven challenging, save for a few exceptions, such as the exotic Rimac Nevera and the faux-shifting Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Now, a new startup company called Longbow aims to capture driving enjoyment with a pair of lightweight, exhilarating electric sports cars.

The British company refers to its planned vehicles as FEVs (or Featherweight Electric Vehicles,) and while that term is clearly marketing jargon, it reveals the nascent brand's intentions. Britain has a lengthy history of lightweight sports cars—from the Caterham Seven to the Ariel Atom—and Longbow says it wants to bring that tradition into the electric age, calling its vehicles "spiritual successors" to the Lotus Elise and Jaguar E-Type.

Longbow Roadster

The open-top model will be called the Speedster, while the coupe, confusingly, is called the Roadster—a dig at Tesla, according to a TopGear article, which has still yet to deliver the Roadster it unveiled in 2017. The two Longbows are built on a bespoke aluminum chassis and feature a sleek design made from composite panels, with a long hood and a two-tone look that highlights the dynamic stance. Both models are rear-wheel drive and feature just two seats, and certain elements such as the lights and mirrors will be parts-bin pieces to keep costs down.

The Speedster will weigh just 1973 pounds, Longbow claims, and dash from zero to 62 mph in just 3.5 seconds. Longbow says the Speedster will have a range of 275 miles, based on the optimistic European WLTP test, which we estimate would equate to around 233 miles on the EPA's test cycle. At current conversion rates, the planned price is roughly $110,000, but Longbow says only 150 hand-built examples will be assembled.

Longbow Roadster

The Roadster comes next, weighing a claimed 2194 pounds and doing the sprint from zero to 62 mph just one-tenth slower than the Speedster. The starting price is far lower, at roughly $84,000 at current exchange rates. No range figure was quoted for the Roadster, and unlike the open-top car, the Roadster won't be limited in production.

While there aren't a ton of details about the Longbows' underpinnings, the company vaguely points out that its facilities are close to top high-performance component suppliers, thanks to the many Formula 1 and Formula E teams nearby. According to TopGear, many of the mechanical pieces—such as the batteries, motors, and brakes—will be sourced from other companies and will work together via a bespoke software system.

In the aforementioned TopGear story, Longbow said it will use a rear-mounted 321-hp electric motor and that it has "good relationships with all the major Chinese semi-state-owned businesses and suppliers." The article also suggested that a dual-motor version could come later, and Longbow will avoid augmented shifts and sounds like on the Ioniq 5 N.

Longbow Speedster

Typically, we're skeptical of EV startups making bold claims, and while we're still cautious about Longbow's outlook, the people behind the company have an impressive resume. The founders have worked in the EV space for decades and have held senior positions at Lucid and Chinese giant BYD. The team also features people who have worked at Tesla, Formula E, Lotus, Aston Martin, and Ariel, the company says.

Longbow says reservations for both the Speedster and Roadster are open now. All Longbow models are designed and engineered in the United Kingdom, where they will also be hand-assembled. The young automaker aims to have its prototype running by this summer, with production in 2026.