Featherweight Longbow Speedster to rip up the rule book as electric Jaguar E-Type spiritual successor

Longbow has built its first dynamic demonstrator of the new Speedster – an all-electric sports car designed with a focus on lightness. 

Playing into the long history of lightweight British sports cars, Longbow’s new Speedster will eventually be joined by the hard-top Roadster. Pricing for the Speedster starts at £84,995, while the Roadster gets under way at £64,995, and both are available to order now. 

The British firm is hoping to tap into the fledgling all-electric sports car market, where it will provide some rare competition for the MG Cyberster. Porsche, Alpine and Caterham are all working on their own, and even Morgan has told us it will make an EV when the demand is there from customers. 

Longbow calls its first creations ‘Featherweight Electric Vehicles’ (FEV), and says development of both cars has focused on simplifying things, enhancing driver engagement and relentlessly adding lightness “until all that remains is sheer automotive intoxication”. 

That approach to simplifying the Speedster and Roadster has had a dramatic impact on weight, with the former tipping the scales at just 895kg. The kerbweight for the hard-top stands at 995kg, meaning that both Longbows sit around a tonne lighter than the lightest single-motor MG Cyberster. 

Not just content with building lightweight machines, Longbow says its cars are designed to “represent driving ‘like it used to feel’ with craftsmanship that does not distract or detract from the immediate experience”. The company sees them as spiritual successors to iconic models like the Lotus Elise and Jaguar E-Type.

The striking duo sit on a bespoke aluminium chassis engineered for minimal weight and maximum stiffness, while their electric powertrains will consist of “lighter and more compact” e-motors and batteries than those used in other electric cars. Key technical details such as power output haven’t been announced yet, although we know the Speedster will do 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds, and have a range of up to 275 miles. Despite the extra weight, the Longbow Roadster will take just 0.1 seconds longer to hit 62mph. 

150 examples of each model will be produced and reservations for both are now open, with the first cars expected to arrive on customers’ driveways next year.

Who is Longbow?

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Longbow was founded in 2023 by Daniel Davey, Jenny Keisu and Mark Tapscott, who have expertise in the automotive industry, technology and finance sector. Davey and Tapscott were involved in developing the original Tesla Roadster, and have held senior positions at two other cutting-edge electric car makers, Lucid Motors and BYD. Meanwhile, Keisu was previously CEO of electric speedboat manufacturer, X Shore.

All of Longbow’s cars will be designed, engineered, and hand-built in the UK, and its engineering team can draw on experience from working at the likes of Lotus, Aston Martin and Ariel, as well as in Formula E. 

When unveiling the Roadster and Speedster, Davey said: “There is a need for a more driver-oriented, featherweight, electric sports car – one that is attainable and accessible, for those who love driving and the places it takes them. That is why we have created Longbow.”

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