This is a two-seat EV racer with next-gen battery tech

There’s a rather large climate conference happening in Glasgow next week – you may have heard it briefly mentioned on the news recently.

Anyway, displayed at said conference will be this – apparently the world’s first two-seat, open-wheeled electric formula racer that has been developed in a joint project between chemical and sustainable tech company Johnson Matthey and Formula E team Envision Virgin Racing. The actual design and build was undertaken by Silverstone-based Delta Cosworth.

It’s a tandem two-seater because it’s a concept designed to demonstrate some new battery tech developed by Johnson Matthey. Said batteries (known as eLNO) use ‘nickel-rich advanced cathode materials’ that offer 20 per cent greater energy density than the lithium-ion units used by most road-going EVs. 

Here there’s a 47kWh capacity and a 335bhp motor that offers a top speed of 149mph. Johnson Matthey says that the eLNO batteries will offer greater range, faster recharging and better long-term retention of battery capacity when it brings them to market in the near future. 

Unlikely to steal the show at COP26, then, but a rather exciting technological development nonetheless. Thoughts, Internet?