Longbow: Britain’s first featherweight electric sports car revives the elegance of "Old Money Style"

"Celeritas Levitas"—the speed of lightness—serves as Longbow's rallying cry, a Latin motto that would feel at home on a family crest. These vehicles stand as spiritual inheritors to legendary British icons like the Lotus Elise and Jaguar E-Type, with meticulous attention to beauty, lightweight construction, impeccable engineering, and hand finishing that speaks to a more genteel approach to automotive excellence. Both vehicles weigh under 995kg, establishing an entirely new category that marries featherweight construction with electric innovation.

Behind Longbow stands a triumvirate of industry virtuosos whose pedigrees span automotive excellence, cutting-edge technology, and strategic finance. Daniel and Mark bring electric vehicle expertise dating back to the original Tesla Roadster—the catalyst that transformed the entire automotive landscape. Their leadership roles at Lucid Motors and BYD have guided challenger brands to maturity and commercial triumph. Jenny completes this distinguished trio, bringing commercial acumen honed through pioneering work in electric marine technology as X Shore's CEO, alongside her background in startup leadership, private equity, and strategic investment.

The Longbow philosophy echoes the gentleman's approach to life itself: simplify, emphasize beauty and engagement, then relentlessly subtract until only the essential remains. The result is pure automotive intoxication. Contradicting conventional notions of electric vehicles, the Speedster and Roadster are striking, nimble, and perfectly balanced—engineered for the sort of driving experience that gentlemen of taste have long appreciated.

Their exterior design achieves that rare balance of nostalgic reverence and timeless allure, while interiors celebrate handcrafted excellence. These vehicles represent driving "like it used to feel"—when the connection between man and machine was intimate and unmediated. Inspired by rich automotive heritage, both models feature tactile cockpits that transcend trends to achieve timelessness.

Constructed around a bespoke aluminum chassis engineered for minimal weight and maximum stiffness, these vehicles offer proportions that are purposeful rather than ostentatious, shaped for speed and honed for feedback. The lightweight architecture allows for more compact motors and batteries, enabling the world's first proper all-electric sportscars for the modern enthusiast who appreciates traditional values.

Longbow Founders Daniel Davey, Jenny Keisu, Mark Tapscott.

The open-topped Speedster weighs a mere 895kg, sprinting to 62mph in 3.5 seconds with a range of 275 miles. With production limited to 150 hand-built examples starting at £84,995, exclusivity is assured. Its counterpart, the closed cockpit Roadster, weighs just 995kg and reaches 62mph in 3.6 seconds, with prices beginning at £64,995.

True to British tradition, all Longbow models are designed, engineered, and hand-built in the UK, leveraging world-class engineering capabilities and proximity to Formula 1 and Formula E teams. The company benefits from globally sourced, industry-proven electric vehicle components, optimized for weight, performance, efficiency, and range.

As Daniel Davey eloquently states: "Amidst the e-mobility revolution, we have lost something important. Many modern 'sportscars' tip the scales at 1,500kg and BEVs can reach almost double that. There is a need for a more driver-oriented, featherweight, electric sportscar – one that is attainable and accessible, for those who love driving and the places it takes them."

The Longbow team brings decades of experience from Formula E, Lotus, Aston Martin, Ariel, and Tesla. As co-founder Mark Tapscott observes: "There are only a few places in the world where you can hand build a sportscar. Here in the UK, British engineering and automotive craftsmanship have a long history of developing lightweight sportscars with great commercial and competitive success."

In Longbow, we find nostalgia reimagined—not as mere sentimentality for what once was, but as a bold vision of what can be when the best elements of our automotive heritage are carried forward into a more elegant future.