Sustainable manufacturing
Since a goal for the E-Nomad project was to explore more sustainable methods of low-volume car manufacturing, swapping the brand’s philosophy of “serious fun” for “seriously clean fun,” Ariel has used a flax-based composite material from Bamd Composites with a much lower carbon footprint than regular carbon fiber. Often, substituting a natural composite comes with a weight penalty due to lower stiffness, but Ariel says that in this case, the resulting panels are nine percent lighter than they would be with a conventional composite.
Ariel also cut in half the carbon footprint of the tooling for the panels, saving more than 11,000 lbs (5,000 kg) of carbon emissions in the process. Both bodywork and tooling are also recyclable.
There are some new features for the driver, too. Ariel has developed a new antilock braking system with selectable on- and off-road modes, and since this is an EV, there’s also a one-pedal driving mode and even an eco mode, which reduces power and torque in favor of more range.
Ariel
Most of the improvement in drag comes from the E-Nomad’s fully covered roof.
Ariel
The two aerials on the roof make the Ariel look like an RC car.
The two aerials on the roof make the Ariel look like an RC car.
Ariel
A cutaway illustration of the Ariel E-Nomad powertrain.
Ariel
The two aerials on the roof make the Ariel look like an RC car.
A cutaway illustration of the Ariel E-Nomad powertrain.
Ariel
Ariel
Ariel
Although the E-Nomad is just a concept for now, the company will definitely use customer interest to gauge whether to build a production version.
“While the E-Nomad is a concept, it does show production intent for the vehicle and hints at just a small part of Ariel’s future. Once it has been through our usual grueling testing regime, we could opt to add E-Nomad alongside its ICE Nomad 2 sibling, so we’ll take great interest in customer feedback on the concept car,” said Ariel director Simon Saunders.
Meanwhile, development continues on the company’s other EV, a 1,180 hp (880 kW) coupe called the “Hipercar.” It was first revealed in 2017, and work continues on the prototype, with a production version possibly appearing next year.
