Major manufacturers need to strengthen their supply chains before niche makers can develop electric sports cars, BAC co-founder Neill Briggs has told Autocar.
Liverpool-based BAC has been a key proponent of zero-emission powertrains in the low-volume sports car sector, with notable projects including the 2021 hydrogen-fuel-cell E-Mono.
According to BAC, this car would be more than 2.0sec faster than the track-focused Mono R around the Silverstone circuit, despite being 149kg heavier.
Briggs has now told Autocar that he is “convinced” that electric motors are "the [optimal] propulsion method", but “where you get the power from is a highly complex question” – with hurdles including the supply of powertrains from major manufacturers as well as infrastructure uncertainties.
He said: “The biggest challenge for us is that with all the vehicles we've made to date, we relied on [major manufacturers] to develop a power unit. We take that power unit, we modify it, we bespoke it, we do all the things that we do to it – and that's what's in the car.
“In the EV space, we’re exactly as reliant and at the moment – I think it's well documented – there are challenges in the supply chain for all the major brands and the [volume] ramp-ups that they need.”
He added: “The last thing that they want are the niche manufacturers knocking on their door, asking them to be able to secure those parts. Then we need to take those parts; we need to redesign the car, we need to re-test it, redevelop it, and so on and so forth. And that's why the lead time for [electrification] is so long.
“When that's available, we’re in. As we showed with our E-Mono fuel-cell electric vehicle concept, we can react pretty quickly.”
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