This Lotus-inspired sports car has 429bhp and real driver focus: meet the SC01
The Small Sports Car Company SC01 has pipped Caterham and Tesla to the post as an electric sports designed to deliver genuine driver thrills
The Caterham Project V and Tesla Roadster are two electric sports cars that have been in the works for quite some time now, with no delivery date in sight. It’s taken them so long to surface, in fact, that China has already beaten them at their own game with the Small Sports Car Company SC01. Set to arrive towards the end of the year, it stands a chance of being one of the very first electric sports designed from the ground-up for driver engagement.
At first glance this is very similar in proportions and design to the Lotus Evora and Exige, and for good reason. This car has been inspired by the ‘generations of British motorsport innovators', so while the firm makes it very clear that it has been engineered in China, it’s said to have been defined by Britain in more ways than one. Feng Xiaotong, the man behind the SC01, said: 'I am myself such an enthusiast, and grew up admiring the great British pioneers who believed that driving should be about lightness, simplicity and the connection between driver and machine. The SC01 is my tribute to that philosophy.'
> Caterham Project V is delayed, but a running prototype is finally here
Built upon a steel space frame chassis, it has mid-engined proportions much like Lotus models of the past – it might have the closest resemblance to an Evora but glance at its dimensions and you’ll find it’s near-identical to the final Exige. Of course, there’s no engine behind the seats in this car, but instead a 60kWh battery pack for a quoted 311-mile range – it’s worth noting, though, that this figure is derived from China's less stringent CLTC test cycle, which equates to around 250 miles WLTP. Peak charging speeds are said to stand at 120kw.
Battery packs almost always mean huge weight, but that’s not the case here. The SC01 claims a kerb weight of just 1365kg which is a whole 620kg less than the MG Cyberster – a sparse cabin and ultra-lightweight 18-inch magnesium wheels are among the measures used to achieve this. Caterham’s incoming Project V EV claims it will tip the scales at an even more impressive 1190kg. However, a significant power disadvantage puts it quite some way behind in terms of performance – the SC01 has 429bhp from a dual-motor all-wheel drive setup, 161bhp more than the 268bhp Caterham. MG’s Cyberster has more at 496bhp, but a near-2 ton kerb weight gives it considerably less power-to-weight.
It doesn’t just look like some of our favourite sports cars of the past, it has the underpinnings to go with it. Adjustable, double-wishbone pushrod suspension is promising to see, and that all-wheel drive system is said to offer switchable power distribution, from front-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive and back to its standard all-wheel drive configuration. The 0-62mph sprint is said to come in around 2.9sec to beat the 4sec Caterham Project V.
Oddly, the original Tesla Roadster from almost two decades ago is one of the only other close alternatives to this car, with a rear-mounted 248bhp motor and a 1283kg kerb weight giving it a near-200bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio. Advances in battery and motor technology and the addition of a front-axle motor mean the SC01 beats it by over 100bhp/ton, but the philosophy is the same. Whether or not the long, long-awaited second-generation Tesla Roadster will offer more of the same is yet to be seen.
The cabin is as stripped back as you’d expect, with sparsely padded carbonfibre bucket seats, a six-speaker sound system, plenty of microfibre and even a real mechanical hand brake. There’s a distinct lack of a central infotainment system too, with this car said to come without any distracting driver assistance systems. Mark Cotton, CEO of Small Sports Car Company, said: 'Less mass, more drive, and no driver interference systems – the SC01 is compact, lightweight and engineered around driving enjoyment – rather than technology for technology’s sake.'
Just like every other one of the alternatives, development of the SC01 hasn’t come without its difficulties. Production was supposed to have begun all the way back in 2023, but nonetheless, it seems it’s about to start imminently, with first cars engineering the UK at the end of the year – UK pricing is yet to be confirmed, but first right-hand drive UK deliveries are set to commence in April 2027.
