I often talk about the lack of affordable new cars in the United States. I recently even ranted about startups and smaller automakers looking to push boundaries and wallets rather than create something affordable. However, it seems Longbow has found the perfect formula with its first-ever model, the Speedster. It has already sold out, and most of the buyers are from America.
And that’s because it’s filling a space in the electric vehicle market that’s been completely empty since the Tesla Roadster came out in 2008. It has been almost 20 years since, and nobody has made a sporty, fun car that happens to be electric. Well, nothing under a few million bucks. But technology has changed since the Tesla Roadster was released, and Longbow Co-Founders Mark Tapscott and Daniel Davey know just how to leverage it to create an electric sports car inspired by what drivers truly want. While speaking with AutoNotion, Tapscott didn’t seem concerned at all about the looming (alleged) release of the second-generation Tesla Roadster.
Why would he be when the Speedster is delivering on exactly what Longbow promised?
An electric vehicle with no screens, all engagement
Tapscott and Davey both worked on the Tesla Roadster all those years ago. Longbow also has an advisory board full of other industry experts, including former McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt, former Alpine CEO Michael Van Der Sande, and Lotus’ former CEO and President Dan Balmer. But the trick was not building a car based on what Tapscott, Davey, and the advisory board knew about cars. It was about asking drivers what they want in a car.
Longbow knew it wanted to create a lightweight electric sports car now that everything is smaller and lighter. But the Speedster’s direction was shaped by those who initially reserved the car. Longbow called all 200 people to ask them what they wanted and found out it was a stripped-back, tactile, fun driver’s car with no screens. If you asked drivers back in the 2000s whether it would be revolutionary not to have screens, they’d think you were crazy. But now, it makes perfect sense. You remove all those screens, all that autonomy, and you’re left with a small, dense powertrain.
Longbow is sorta doing the whole electric thing backward — and it’s actually more forward-thinking this way. The Speedster and the Roadster (the more practical version with a roof) aren’t electric cars that happen to be sporty. These are sports cars that happen to be electric. In fact, Tapscott didn’t even really want to talk about the stats at all. Most automakers will throw numbers at you — it reaches 60 miles per hour in 2 seconds! It can go over 160 miles per hour! It charges in 8 minutes! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: these stats have lost all their meaning. Electric vehicles can easily hit these numbers, even if they are just boring family haulers. Soccer moms can beat you at a green light without even thinking about it. It’s not really all that interesting to me anymore.
And I thought that meant I also was not interested in electric vehicles. But I think it just means I’m not interested in most electric vehicles. Because Longbow has a different approach: “What’s really important to us, we don’t talk about lap times or horsepower. As soon as you try to build a car to do a Nurburgring lap record, all the things that make it a great car to drive on a canyon road, enjoying the weekend, those things kind of fall apart. It’s designed to be enjoyed on the road.”
I’m a Lotus Elise driver. I can’t argue with that logic. However, can an electric vehicle really give you that same visceral, exhilarating feeling as something like the Elise?
An electric vehicle that’s lightweight and has a stick shifter
Longbow hopes to prove that it’s possible to build an electric driver’s car. First, it’s 1,973 pounds. That’s light, especially for an electric car. The 2006 Elise is 1,896 pounds. Lightness, check. And that’s possible thanks to new battery technology: they no longer have to add extra weight. Makes you wonder why most electric vehicle brands have such heavy models. But again, Longbow does things differently.
Said Tapscott: “We haven’t done what every other EV is doing, putting batteries in the floor and creating that skateboard. We looked at that, and it’s great for SUVs and saloons. But it’s not the best optimization for a sports car. We have a 55/45 weight distribution, with the battery sitting behind the seats. And batteries are smaller, power-dense. They can be more precise.”
Well, that’s more balanced than the Lotus Elise. But again, a driver’s car is about more than just the performance. Can an electric sports car be engaging?
That’s the goal with the interior of the Speedster and Roadster. Longbow hasn’t released any details about the interior yet because they’re still working on a prototype. It will look a lot different later. However, Tapscott told me that one thing won’t be changing: the stick shift. Without an engine to generate noise, the team had to find other ways to make the experience more engaging. They call it “theater.” There will be a stick shifter and other hypercar-inspired elements to add that theater back in, Tapscott told me.
Will there be fake engine noises? “Everything we do will be authentic, but enhanced.”
Unsurprisingly, the Speedster is quite inspired by the Elise. That explains Tapscott’s approach.
An electric vehicle that paves the way for more non-boring EVs
The Speedster is a very limited production vehicle. Only 150 of them were made available globally. Just a few are left to reserve at about $110,000, and they will be delivered at the end of the year. The Roadster, the practical version, will be $85,000. With luggage space and a roof, Longbow envisions this as a daily driver.
As I said at the start of this article, America is missing affordable cars. The Speedster and Roadster are not affordable. However, Longbow has larger plans. I’d still venture to say they aren’t in the “affordable” category for the average American. But this is just the beginning. The purpose of building these kinds of innovative performance vehicles is to figure out how to implement new technology into those more attainable, practical models down the line.
The chassis used for the Speedster and Roadster can be widened by extending the wheelbase. They can also stick on different suspensions and create a safari-type vehicle, like the Dakar. They can also add some length and two back seats, allowing it to compete with the Corvette and Porsche 911. Said Tapscott: “That gives people an excuse to buy a car, saying it’s a family car they can occasionally stick their kids in the back of.”
By 2030, Longbow will have another product. Tapscott couldn’t say, unfortunately. But it will have the same platform as the Speedster and Roadster. However, it will be much more practical, and we’ll see many more on the road. He envisions about 15,000 being produced a year. We’re not talking Miata prices here. But you can see how these new technologies can continue being implemented.
However, I personally find the OG quite fascinating on its own. The Speedster seems to truly bridge the gap between electric technology and a driver’s car. If it can prove that electric cars can be engaging and fun to drive, that is worth all the money in the world.
