The Callum Skye is an 1,150kg electric off-road toy with strong stats

Meet the light at the end of the tunnel. Electric cars might be improving at an extraordinary rate, with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and numerous flavours of Porsche Taycan proving that enthusiasts really won’t get left behind in a world of zero tailpipe emissions. But there’s one sticking point afflicting both cars and their myriad rivals: porkiness.

This Callum Skye, though, registers just 1,150kg when it cautiously hops onto the scales. It’s an EV that weighs as much as a supermini. It’s the holy grail we’ve been seeking.

It’s not, however, about to wade in and replace the Ford Fiesta in our small car affections. It is both much more exciting and significantly less practical than that. Good.

The Skye is the latest project from the Callum design company part-founded by Ian Callum (how did you guess?), he of Aston Martin DB9 and Jaguar F-Type fame among many others. It’s not the first vehicle to be put into production by the tight-knit and mostly young team operating out of Warwickshire, but we’d argue it might raise your pulse more than a reimagined 2000s Vanquish, however gorgeous that appeared.

The Skye is a luxury off-road toy, an Ariel Nomad if it went for elocution lessons and an expensive suit tailoring, and it’s seen the team sketching from a blank sheet of paper for the first wholly Callum automotive project. At 4.0m long and 1.9m wide it’s a wee bit bigger than other, ICE-powered ATVs, but the team had a true plug-in pioneer in mind when brainstorming the Skye’s aesthetic and packaging – the BMW i3.

As such the Skye comes with 2+2 seating, all cocooned inside a space-frame chassis with refinement and comfort high on the agenda. Where a Nomad immerses you into countryside by splattering mud all over your coat, a Skye lets you take in the scenery through McLaren Senna-esque glass door panels.

Handling prowess will be aided by trail-ready damping, all-wheel drive and 50/50 weight distribution. Its low mass benefits both range and performance: expect 0-62mph in under four seconds and a 170-mile range from a relatively small 42kWh battery. There’ll be an optional fast charging system capable of an empty to full top-up in just ten minutes, too. Which is possibly the most useful stat if you plan on really enjoying one of these to their fullest.

It looks smart too, of course, with perhaps a whiff of Callum’s Prodrive Hunter Dakar racecar in its silhouette. "The exterior features a striking accent loop, intersected by a strong horizontal structure, flanked by organic forms front and rear," says Ian in far more proficient design-speak than we could ever muster. "It is paired down to a level of necessity and understatement."

If you’re more about overstatement, though, there’ll be numerous ways to spec yours to ensure the Skye suits whichever activities you have planned for it – rugged or not. Final specifications will be revealed in 2024 once the Skye has finished development, but Adam Donfrancesco, Callum’s head of engineering, promises the finished product will "conquer the rigorous demands of a variety of off-road terrains, while still delivering the ride comfort and handling that transforms winding country roads into captivating experiences for both the driver and passengers".

So, for those still perched on the fence about EVs – could this one pull you over into the promised land?