Coventry University Designs Sparrowhawk EV — Electric Sports Car Platform To Share

Electric race car fans can rejoice! Coventry University has been working overtime to give you a shared platform that can be raced by third parties. Great news if you’re into racing, and we assume there are a few of you out there.

Racing The Sparrowhawk EV Project

While XING Mobility continues to develop its liquid-cooled battery pack, the Coventry University’s National Transport Design Centre (NTDC) just revealed its Sparrowhawk EV Project electric sports car concept is designed to be shared with other parties to develop the technology. Mike Dickison, Associate Dean, Enterprise & Commercial at the university’s Faculty of Engineering, Environment & Computing, told the magazine Electric & Hybrid, “It is not intended to be a really fast car. It isn’t any more difficult to engineer a very fast car, but the cost and mass would escalate. We specifically want to keep the car in a more affordable price bracket.”

If you’re tempted to ask, “Why Coventry?,” you are revealing your lack of English automotive history. 🙂 Coventry was home to most of England’s carmakers in the past. Many race cars also came from the city. Fast forward to the present and the university’s NTDC Sparrowhawk project could also help further reduce the cost electric vehicles (EV) in general. But the university is also eyeing the EV as its own personal high-performance testing platform.

“In essence, the car uses an all-aluminum structure that is specifically designed to house the powertrain system and battery pack, while maintaining a low seating position, as befits a sports car,” Dickison explains in further detail. “Safety is a key factor, along with chassis stiffness and generous occupant space. Ease of manufacturing and versatility are also important, so our concept is based on creating a fully driving chassis and having lightweight composite exterior panels that serve aerodynamic and styling functions but are not contributing to basic structural integrity. This means that aesthetic design changes are easily implemented and customers could even commission their own individual one-off vehicle, based on the Sparrowhawk underpinnings.”

Sparrowhawk EV Project Plans Ahead

The Sparrowhead EV Project does plan on manufacturing up to 100 units a year with a certain amount of individual customization offered. As to the price, considering the performance, the Sparrowhead EV Project is expected to cost around £100,000 ($140,800) depending on the individual specification for each car. The good news, if we can call it that, is that the entry-level price is targeted at about £60,000 ($84,500).

Currently, Sparrowhead EV Project is working with suppliers to determine the powertrain. The specifications are a 0–60 mph (0–100 km/h) time of 6 seconds with a top speed of 100 mph (161 km/h) and a range of around 150 miles (240 km).