Morgan has received £6m (nearly $8.5 million) in funding to start building hybrid and electric cars from 2019.
The money, which comes from the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre and UK-based Delta Motorsport and Potenza Technology, will go to expand the company’s research and development department, to hire new workers, and to boost its annual production capacity.
Morgan Managing Director, Steve Morris said “This is a very exciting project for us. We have been involved in the research and development of new propulsion technology since the inception of the LifeCar project almost ten years ago. We are now ready to develop the best hybrid and electric drive-train solutions for production implementation before the end of the decade. We expect the project to deliver growth and employment benefits here at Morgan and in our partner companies, but equally it will broaden the appeal of the Morgan brand and attract new customers in our key markets.”
The first regular-production electric model in Morgan’s lineup will be the production version of the 3-Wheeler-based EV3 concept that was shown last summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Set to go on sale before the end of the year, the electric Morgan EV3 is powered by a 75 kW electric motor that’s mounted over the rear wheel, and it is able to drive for up to 150 miles (240 km) on a single charge. It hits sixty in under ten seconds and has top speed of over 80 mph or 129 km/h.
