The Callum Skye has been revealed as an all-terrain luxurious electrical car (EV) from famed automotive designer Ian Callum.
The Skye was revealed in a video displaying the futuristic off-roader leaping from the streets of New York Metropolis to meandering mountain roads and snowy slopes.
The compact all-wheel-drive electrical SUV might be optimised for essentially the most excessive circumstances adventurous off-road drivers can discover, however can also be set to be homologated for the street after prototypes start testing at first of subsequent 12 months.
Designed and engineered solely in-house by the Warwick-based agency, the high-riding mannequin named for the rocky Scottish island might be ultra-limited – probably to fewer than 50 items a 12 months.
Callum is a boutique design and engineering agency based by Scotsman Ian Callum – a famend automotive designer with fashions such because the Aston Martin DB7 and Vanquish to his identify.
A 2+2 format within the cabin encapsulates driver and passengers in an inside which the model says is pushed by driver expertise, simplicity, and sustainability.
“It has been designed to exceed expectations: minimal mass, most functionality – exceptionally usable and an absolute pleasure to drive,” Ian Callum stated on the Skye.
Considerably resembling the Odyssey 21 electrical rally SUV raced within the Excessive E electrical rally championship, the Callum Skye has a deeply hollowed facet ‘accent loop’ flanked by pronounced, shelf-like shoulders.
An expansive glass windshield stretches right into a sunroof reaching proper again to the rear finish, whereas there are convex home windows that additional improve this one-piece visible impact.
With solely two doorways and a dramatically raked roofline, it’s clear the mannequin’s 2+2 configuration prioritises driver expertise reasonably than passenger consolation or inside area.
Emphasis has been positioned on making the car as light-weight as potential utilizing carbon fibre components – it’s anticipated to weigh lower than 1150kg.
A 42kWh lithium-ion battery pack will ship a claimed vary of round 275km.
Callum claims the SUV could make the 0 to 100km/h dash in underneath 4 seconds.
The Skye is described by the agency as a “high-performance multi-terrain electrical car, created for discerning house owners in search of extraordinary on- and off-road adventures.”
At simply over 4 metres lengthy, the Skye Callum is a really compact 4WD comparable in measurement to fashions such because the Jeep Avenger.
Callum’s engineering director, Adam Donfrancesco, says the agency has created a ‘versatile car’ that isn’t solely visually spectacular however exceeds ‘uncompromisingly excessive purposeful targets’.
Mr Donfrancesco confirmed that the area body linked with carbon-fibre joints is a design distinctive to Callum – it is going to be partnered with absolutely unbiased, equally weighted suspension accessible in two specs to prioritise both off-road or paved driving.
David Fairbairn, Callum’s managing director, is assured the group has been capable of handle a void out there with an off-road EV that ‘doesn’t have an environmental impression’.
Pricing hasn’t been confirmed, however clients can anticipate a luxurious price ticket to match the bespoke, handcrafted nature of the car.
Ian Callum sat down with CarExpert again in 2020 to speak about his diversified profession within the automotive business and his connection to Australia by Ford and Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), plus his time at Jaguar.
Speaking on the Jaguar I-Pace’s proportions, Mr Callum stated “I didn’t need it to seem like an SUV. SUVs are typically very vertical, and I wished this to have size. What I found is in case you elevate it excessive, when you’ve got a sure dynamic it nonetheless seems like a automotive versus an SUV.”
Though the Skye has spectacular trip peak and wheel clearance, the mannequin channels the sentiment above with its compact, coupe-esque silhouette.
MORE: Q&A with Ian Callum: Part 1
MORE: Q&A with Ian Callum: Part 2
