To be Britain’s most eccentric sports-car maker is the sort of achievement that rivals being acknowledged as New York’s worst taxi driver; you have to be outstanding to rise above such a talented field of challengers.
-And yet Morgan lifts the crown, combining contradictions like no other automotive player. This is the manufacturer that builds the bodywork of some of its models around wooden frames and yet builds others from extruded aluminum; one which has both a factory resembling a Dickensian theme park and one of the most comprehensive websites of any comparably sized auto company. Even the acrimonious departure of former boss Charles Morgan, an Olympic-grade eccentric in his own right, did little to reduce the overall levels of peculiarity.
-
Which is why we’re not at all surprised by the announcement of a prototype electric version of the Morgan 3-Wheeler. It’s exactly the sort of unexpected thing that we expect Morgan to do. Dubbed EV3, the car is set to make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. And although details are limited at present, we’re told it is powered by a single electric motor producing 101 horsepower and that the total weight, including the as-yet undetailed battery pack, will be less than the 450-kilogram (992-pound) claim of the V-twin-engined combustion version. (The version we tested tipped our scales at 1268 pounds.) Morgan is also claiming it will have a 150-mile range. These heavily rendered images also make clear it looks considerably sleeker than the standard 3-Wheeler, although their angles have been carefully chosen to not reveal what occupies the place of the binned V-twin.
-
-
- -
- We Take Morgan’s 3 Wheeler on a Tour of California Ghost Towns
- -
- Let the Wood (and Aluminum) Times Roll: A Tour of Morgan Motor Company’s Factory
- -
- Tally Bally Ho! New Morgan Aero 8 Goes Back to Basics
- -
-
Morgan has built an electric prototype before, the Plus-E that was shown at the Geneva auto show in 2012. That one never made production, but we’re told that this one will, with a purchasable version set to follow “toward the end of 2016.”
-
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1CqDJwg
via Agya
