Morgan puts iconic electric trike on ice
Late last year we reported that Morgan of Britain would be kicking-off serial production of the iconic three-wheeler in electric form about this time. This will not happen. The EV3 relied on a partnership with motor maker Frazer Nash that has come to an end at least for now.
The Morgan trike is a little icon in Britain and the electric version has been brewing since 2016 when a prototype showed up in Geneva. A year later it looked as if the Brits were ready to prepare for production that was set to begin in late 2018. Yet nothing has happened and now we know why.
Morgan had relied on a technical partnership with Frazer-Nash Energy to tune the electric drive system so that the EV3 may reach a top speed of 130 kph. The series version of the EV3 was supposed to deliver 35 kW fed by a 21 kWh battery delivering a range just short of 200 kilometres for the lightweight trike.
Yet this partnership has fallen through. Morgan’s managing director Steve Morris told Autocar that they had to shelve the EV3 because “our current EV powertrain supplier is no longer able to fulfil the project within the terms of the contract”.
Replying on behalf of said supplier, Frazer-Nash MD Noamaan Siddiqui said the deal had indeed failed “for a number of contractual reasons”, while adding that prototypes his company had built were “very promising”.
None of the companies would go into further detail but Morgan remains resolved to make the electric trike a reality and offered a learning from the experience. While they had expected a “turnkey solution” said Morris, they concluded they will need more electric vehicle experience in-house.
More news on the Morgan EV3 will follow at a later date yet it would certainly be a shame if this little classic of an electric car will not see the light of the day.
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