Ariel
British small-scale carmaker Ariel began with a reinterpretation of the iconic Lotus Seven and gained some notoriety for building the car that filled Jeremy Clarkson's epiglottis with bees. Top equipmentback when it was the most streamed TV show on the internet. Then the company expanded its product range to include the Nomad, which added off-road capability to the mix and created a car that could The big tour and in the last iterations of ForzaHorizonToday, Ariel unveiled its idea for a fully electric version of this off-road vehicle, the E-Nomad.
Ariel says the E-Nomad can match the more than respectable acceleration of its petrol car, meaning it can go from 0-60 mph (98 km/h) in 3.4 seconds despite the all-terrain tyres. But fast-accelerating electric vehicles are nothing special. What is striking is the relative lightness of the E-Nomad – it tips the scales at just 896 kg, less than half the weight of most electric vehicles available today.
The E-Nomad's 41 kWh battery pack is located behind the cabin, replacing the combustion engine and fuel tank you'd find in a regular car. Ariel sourced it from Rockfort Engineering and says the pouch cells offer “best-in-class energy density.” Overall, the battery pack weighs less than 300 kg and can transmit up to 210 kW (281 hp) to the drive unit at the rear. The drive has a maximum torque of 490 Nm and is weight-optimized, weighing 92 kg (202 lbs).
Aerodynamic efficiency is probably the most important factor affecting an electric vehicle's range. The E-Nomad is slightly better optimized than the regular Nomad, with a more covered body and fewer open gaps between the struts of the spaceframe chassis, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in drag. Despite this, the shape is still quite sluggish, so the range is only given as 240 km.
Sustainable production
As one aim of the E-Nomad project was to explore more sustainable methods of manufacturing low-volume cars and replace the brand philosophy of “serious fun” with “serious clean fun”, Ariel has used a flax-based composite material from Bamd Composites, which has a much lower carbon footprint than traditional carbon fibre. Often replacing a natural composite material comes with a weight penalty due to lower stiffness, but Ariel says that in this case the resulting panels are nine per cent lighter than a traditional composite material.
Ariel has also halved the carbon footprint of the tools used to make the body parts, saving over 5,000 kg of CO2 emissions. The body and tools are also recyclable.
There are some new features for the driver too. Ariel has developed a new anti-lock braking system with selectable on- and off-road modes, and since it's an electric car, there's also a one-pedal driving mode and even an Eco mode that reduces power and torque in favor of greater range.
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The improvement in air resistance is mainly due to the E-Nomad's fully covered roof.
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The two antennas on the roof give the Ariel the look of a remote-controlled car.
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A cross-section of the Ariel E-Nomad's drivetrain
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The flax composite is more environmentally friendly than conventional carbon fibers.
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A look at the “Power Rib” reinforcement on the back of the flax composite panels.
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Although the E-Nomad is currently only a concept, the company will definitely use customer interest as a benchmark for whether to build a production version.
“Although the E-Nomad is a concept, it shows the production intent for the vehicle and only hints at a small part of Ariel's future. Once it has completed our usual rigorous testing programme, we may decide to place the E-Nomad alongside its sibling, the ICE Nomad 2, so we are very excited to hear customer feedback on the concept car,” said Ariel Director Simon Saunders.
Meanwhile, development continues on the company's other electric vehicle, a 1,180-horsepower (880-kW) coupe called the “Hipercar.” It was first unveiled in 2017, and work on the prototype continues. A production version could appear next year.