IN THE early days of the automobile there were several hundred manufacturers in America and many more in other parts of the world. But now carmaking is dominated by just a dozen or so global firms. Yet technological change can disrupt established industries by lowering the barriers to entry and letting in newcomers. There are signs of that happening in carmaking.
Using the latest electric-vehicle technologies and new manufacturing techniques, Tesla sprang from Silicon Valley with an electric sports car. Fisker, another new Californian firm, is building a hybrid luxury car called the Karma. Other firms have projects under way ranging from electric commuter cars to conversions of existing vehicles. And yesterday a tiny company called Delta Motorsport unveiled not just one but five working prototypes of its 150mph (241kph) E-4 Coupe, developed and built with a minuscule £750,000 ($1.2m) budget.
“Some of the big carmakers are interested,” says Simon Dowson, the firm’s managing director. “They wonder how we did it.” Delta Motorsport was formed in 2005 by Mr Dowson and his technical director, Nick Carpenter. They have just ten employees. But they are based at the Silverstone motor-racing circuit in Britain, which provides a clue as to how they pulled it off.
The company wanted to apply the same lean and rapid development techniques used by the motor-racing industry to produce an electric sports car. They did the design, engineering and assembly work but subcontracted the manufacturing of parts to other suppliers in what Mr Dowson describes as “Motorsport Valley”, an area stretching through the middle of England. This is where many vehicle-engineering firms and most Formula One racing teams are based.
The Delta E-4 Coupe, like all preproduction prototypes, still needs work. But the cars are nippy, handle well and have a striking design, with “butterfly” doors that swing up and open. The prototypes, fitted with a smaller battery than the 48 kWh lithium-ion battery pack planned for the fastest version, are not yet capable of delivering what Delta expects to be 0-60mph in under 5 seconds and a range of 200 miles on a single charge. Nevertheless, the car does have four seats, can be fully recharged in eight hours from a conventional 13 amp mains socket and would meet European crashworthiness tests.
The prototypes use powerful direct-drive electric motors developed by Oxford YASA Motors, another Motorsport Valley firm. At present two electric motors are used, one powering each of the rear wheels. But motors could be fitted to the front wheels as well to provide four-wheel drive.
