Ian Callum’s title has been everywhere in the mobility world for the reason that well-known designer left his position as head of Jaguar design in 2019. The Prodrive BRX T1, an off-roader created to compete within the 2021 Dakar Rally, was one of many first outings for his impartial consultancy. The corporate returns to an analogous playground with the Callum Skye, a battery-electric 2+2 off-roader that is the primary clean-sheet in-house creation to be bought beneath the consultancy’s personal model. Scheduled to start prototype testing early subsequent 12 months and to go on sale in 2025, Ian Callum mentioned of it, “We always intended to do our own car, and we’ve gone for this concept because it is not a sports car.”
Though the Skye may not be a sports activities automobile, it is supposed to be sporty and versatile. Round 160 inches lengthy and 74.8 inches large, it is about seven inches shorter than a two-door Jeep Wrangler and an inch wider. The 42-kWh battery and unspecified electrical motors making practically 300 horsepower ship all-wheel drive, an estimated 0-60 mph time beneath 4 seconds, and an estimated 170 miles of WLTP vary. Hitting the goal weight of two,535 kilos would hold the EV practically 1,500 kilos beneath that two-door Jeep. An accessible suspension possibility offering 13.7 inches of floor clearance and 21.7 inches of journey would get the Skye by way of obstacles that might give the Jeep pause. Clients who do not plan to check the capabilities can select a tamer suspension fitted to trails and gravel roads.
It isn’t all concerning the wilderness. Callum mentioned the Skye’s being engineered to “have an off-road ability which is not too far from some of the ultimate off-roaders.” On the identical time, “Our intention is to homologate the Skye so it can be used on public roads.” Detachable wheel arch extensions essential to make the Skye highway authorized have already been conceived.
Among the many novelties, engineers inserted “carbon-fiber links” in among the metal-on-metal joints. There are clear panels everywhere in the composite cabin; the rear window could be eliminated, the home windows within the decrease door make it simpler for occupants to identify the perfect line when off-road. A second battery possibility could be totally recharged in ten minutes, the results of a partnership between Callum and English battery outfit Nyobolt. Proper now, the 2 corporations “are collaborating on a demonstration of new lithium-ion battery tech that would permit the full charge of a vehicle in about six minutes.”
We do not know what the cabin seems to be like but, Callum solely saying, “The interior will be simple, but we are not going to hold back on ensuring it has a sense of quality.” A straightforward day’s work for a person whose résumé counts a run of luxurious specials from the Aston Martin DB7 to the Jaguar i-Tempo.
Eventual manufacturing is deliberate at a tempo of 1 per week in Callum’s manufacturing facility in Warwick, England, the UK worth round £100,000 ($126,300 U.S.). Homologation for U.S. roads is into account however not assured.