When I first wrote about the new sports car Riversimple plans to produce, I wasn't sure whether to call it a manifesto or a love letter to cars. I ultimately settled on “manifesto,” but a chat with Hugo Spowers made me realize that “love letter” would be a better choice. There's no other way to describe what this vehicle wants to accomplish.
You already know that it wants to tip the scales at just 620 kilograms (1,367 pounds) and still offer 400 miles of range. This shows that its primary mission is to prove that cars don't have to be big or heavy to be fun or capable. No wonder it's being developed under the internal title Project Chapman, a nod to Colin Chapman. If you haven't connected the name to the man, he founded Lotus and coined the famous phrase: “Simplify, then add lightness.” Riversimple Rasa and all future products from the Welsh startup share a similar principle: “Everything you need and nothing you don't.” What you don't know yet is why its top speed will be 100 mph (160 km/h), but Spowers was kind enough to tell us.
“We haven't capped the top speed, as you might think. It was designed to go that speed from the start. We could make it faster, but it would require a much more powerful fuel cell, more supercaps and a bigger hydrogen tank, which would mean a bigger car and a heavier structure, and so on. The point is that this over-100mph capability would compromise the sub-100mph attributes we set out to demonstrate, particularly the vehicle dynamics in this case. This is really the fastest sports car you can get.”
Photo: Riversimple
Most vehicles are designed to reach speeds they will never reach. They carry the burden of unnecessary capabilities that overwhelm the truly useful ones, like bringing all that mass to a safe stop. If you're looking for astonishing top speeds, Riversimple's sports car isn't for you. Spowers added that “If you're looking for incredible performance on twisty roads, this is the right choice.”
“I think it will be more capable than almost anything else with ten times the power on real European roads. It is a sports car for public roads, not a track car. A top speed of 100mph would not be sufficient on a track and the powertrain is not designed for a track duty cycle. On a track, you either press hard on the right pedal or the middle pedal. If you don't, you won't go fast enough! The problem is that the voltage on the capacitors would systematically drop because there is not enough excess capacity in the powertrain to recharge them. This is a situation you could not achieve on a public road; it could manage a constant 100mph on a desert road in a straight line, but it could not manage multiple tight corners with straights in the middle, with no traffic, ad infinitum. That only happens on a track, when there is no opposition coming from the other side!”
In summary, the mission of this new sports car is to be fun in everyday driving and within legal speed limits. Riversimple's future creation focuses so much on that spirit that it will be a rough driving machine. The company will not put airbags, ABS or ESP in it. Because it will be produced in such low numbers, these safety features are not required by law in the UK. On top of that, being a simpler machine, it will be lighter. Spowers told me that they are deciding whether to produce 10 or 20 of this modern but old-school machine, but no more. This will make it quite exclusive, which doesn’t fit Riversimple’s business model.
Photo: Riversimple
If you don't know how it works, the Welsh startup will never sell a single car. It will charge a monthly fee for everything: hydrogen refueling, insurance, maintenance, and mileage. Accordingly, the sports car will follow almost the same strategy. Spowers explained that it only changes at the end of the leasing period.
“We will have fixed leases for 10 or 20 years, a one-off sale, but customers can resell the lease – we are still defining the best option. When that lease ends and the vehicles reach the end of their commercial life, they should be recycled, but sports cars are not. The customer who holds the lease at the end of the contract will be able to keep them. We want these vehicles to become collectors' items.”
In a way, Riversimple will remain tied to these cars because of the business model it wants to establish. Since it is responsible for repairing its products, that should also be the case with its sports cars. The company is looking to develop a fee for maintenance and refueling of these vehicles when their lease periods expire.
“Even customers with very high financial resources might decide to have their own hydrogen filling stations, and we can organize that for them.”
Photo: Riversimple
Ultimately, these sports cars will be flagship vehicles to showcase what Riversimple and its technology have to offer. They will be developed in conjunction with the company's first production models, although they do have some differences, such as inboard engines. Riversimple's CEO explained the main difference.
“Unsprung mass with in-wheel motors is not a big issue for normal road cars, especially the ones we plan to build, which will not exceed 60 mph or 70 mph. On the other hand, it is essential to reduce it for the sports car we want to create. We will almost certainly use inboard engines on the production cars as well, although probably not inboard brakes. This is a good example of working on a 'better-of-the-breed' sports car project. There are so many factors involved, but the main driver for doing this with the production car is that we can use a single-speed planetary gearbox and therefore reduce the critical material content in the motors six-fold. The main disadvantage is that we have to have propshafts and CV joints!”
If you're expecting the Rasa to be followed by the sports car, Spowers also told me what to really expect. According to him, the Rasa will never hit production lines. Like the Hyrban technology demonstrator that preceded it, it was just a development vehicle.
“We may lease some units to Rasa fans, but the production model will have a slightly higher seat to provide better access for older customers and those with mobility issues. Our entry-level car will be a two-door, two-seater with a top speed of 60 mph. We will also have a four-seater and a van on the same platform and powertrain options in each to travel at 70 mph.”
Photo: Riversimple
Those who aren't interested in sports cars will still have fun driving Riversimple's regular vehicles. Spowers estimates that they would have a 0-60 mph time of about 9 seconds, which is pretty impressive for normal use.
Even the CEO of Riversimple doesn't know what the sports car will look like, because he is waiting for the conclusion of the company's design competition. Their production will depend on this and also on raising the necessary funding. The Welsh startup often promotes investment rounds to get there. Hopefully, the sports car will help speed them up, as well as the company's plans. It would be great if it only took 3.5 seconds, because the sports car will require going from 0 to 97 km/h (60 mph), but it won't be that easy. Unfortunately, making a sensible proposal for the future of personal mobility is not enough in a world that is so used to spending on raw materials that it's as if there is no tomorrow. At the rate we're going, it might eventually be true.