Watt EV Coupe – Will It Make It to Production or Not?

Jason R. Sakurai
by Jason R. Sakurai

The Watt Electric Vehicle Company (WEVC) has unveiled the EV Coupe, a classic shape inspired by the 1955 Porsche 356A. WEVC is not connected with Porsche AG. WEVC does not imply that any of their products are a product of Porsche AG, nor are the Porsche or 356 names used or associated with WEVC products. So why would we think WEVC is on a slippery slope?

WEVC says that there are many changes to the EV Coupe’s exterior and interior surfaces, yet it resembles the 356. Their composite body is more rounded, and aerodynamic.

Headquartered at Rally Prep, in Saint Columb, United Kingdom, Watt is the latest company to carve out a new EV niche. Their two-seat, mid-motored, rear-wheel driven mixes retro style with modern EV construction. A real-world sports car that complies with modern safety standards.

WEVC has created their own platform, made of bonded aluminum. Including the battery case in the chassis saved weight, and made it more organized structurally. Powered by a 40 kWh lithium-ion battery, there’s also a 120kW mid-mounted electric motor. This gives the EV Coupe near 50-50 weight distribution, and a 2,200-pound curb weight.

The interior uses high-end, lightweight materials. Modern sports car creature comforts, such as air-conditioning and mobile connectivity, are included.

WEVC has conducted ample original testing, with more to come. Production cars will have a worldwide light vehicle test procedure (WLTP) range of 230 miles. Launch Edition Coupes will reach zero-62 MPH in about five seconds.

“With our new vehicle we wanted a light, appealing sports car, positioned at the opposite end of the range from the current trend building powerful, fast accelerating, but heavy electric cars, said Neil Yates, WEVC founder and owner. “The EV Coupe’s focus is on occupying the driver, while providing enjoyment at the same time. It has a comfortable ride and excellent response, with a double wishbone suspension, 16-inch wheels and low-profile tires, and a handling balance that is entertaining.”

The EV Coupe’s advanced development will continue over the coming months ahead of a production car reveal in late summer. Manufacturing will begin in November, with deliveries beginning in early 2022. Launch Edition Coupes will start at $113,050. We reached out to WEVC for a comment about the car’s design, but did not hear back from them prior to posting our story.

[Images: Watt EV Company]

Jason R. Sakurai
Jason R. Sakurai

With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.

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  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Apr 06, 2021

    Watt is the wrong name for EV company. They should call it Kilowatt at least, or Megawatt.

  • MRF 95 T-Bird MRF 95 T-Bird on Apr 06, 2021

    The good folks at EV West sell a Karmann Ghia electric conversion kit for a mere $7,598. All you need is a decent Ghia shell and the labor costs and you’re still at less then half of what the Watt EV is priced at. https://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=220

    • See 2 previous
    • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Apr 07, 2021

      @MRF 95 T-Bird My lot is full atm but these kits for 70s iron really appeal to me in the longer term. Prior to this the only solution for malaise era carbs or early FI was a swap or perhaps Megasquirt. Now you can just rip it all out for probably not much more cost.

  • Bd2 Lexus is just a higher trim package Toyota. ^^
  • Tassos ONLY consider CIvics or Corollas, in their segment. NO DAMNED Hyundais, Kias, Nissans or esp Mitsus. Not even a Pretend-BMW Mazda. They may look cute but they SUCK.I always recommend Corollas to friends of mine who are not auto enthusiasts, even tho I never owed one, and owned a Civic Hatch 5 speed 1992 for 25 years. MANY follow my advice and are VERY happy. ALmost all are women.friends who believe they are auto enthusiasts would not listen to me anyway, and would never buy a Toyota. They are damned fools, on both counts.
  • Tassos since Oct 2016 I drive a 2007 E320 Bluetec and since April 2017 also a 2008 E320 Bluetec.Now I am in my summer palace deep in the Eurozone until end October and drive the 2008.Changing the considerable oils (10 quarts synthetic) twice cost me 80 and 70 euros. Same changes in the US on the 2007 cost me $219 at the dealers and $120 at Firestone.Changing the air filter cost 30 Euros, with labor, and there are two such filters (engine and cabin), and changing the fuel filter only 50 euros, while in the US they asked for... $400. You can safely bet I declined and told them what to do with their gold-plated filter. And when I changed it in Europe, I looked at the old one and it was clean as a whistle.A set of Continentals tires, installed etc, 300 EurosI can't remember anything else for the 2008. For the 2007, a brand new set of manual rec'd tires at Discount Tire with free rotations for life used up the $500 allowance the dealer gave me when I bought it (tires only had 5000 miles left on them then)So, as you can see, I spent less than even if I owned a Lexus instead, and probably less than all these poor devils here that brag about their alleged low cost Datsun-Mitsus and Hyundai-Kias.And that's THETRUTHABOUTCARS. My Cars,
  • NJRide These are the Q1 Luxury division salesAudi 44,226Acura 30,373BMW 84,475Genesis 14,777Mercedes 66,000Lexus 78,471Infiniti 13,904Volvo 30,000*Tesla (maybe not luxury but relevant): 125,000?Lincoln 24,894Cadillac 35,451So Cadillac is now stuck as a second-tier player with names like Volvo. Even German 3rd wheel Audi is outselling them. Where to gain sales?Surprisingly a decline of Tesla could boost Cadillac EVs. Tesla sort of is now in the old Buick-Mercury upper middle of the market. If lets say the market stays the same, but another 15-20% leave Tesla I could see some going for a Caddy EV or hybrid, but is the division ready to meet them?In terms of the mainstream luxury brands, Lexus is probably a better benchmark than BMW. Lexus is basically doing a modern interpretation of what Cadillac/upscale Olds/Buick used to completely dominate. But Lexus' only downfall is the lack of emotion, something Cadillac at least used to be good at. The Escalade still has far more styling and brand ID than most of Lexus. So match Lexus' quality but out-do them on comfort and styling. Yes a lot of Lexus buyers may be Toyota or import loyal but there are a lot who are former GM buyers who would "come home" for a better product.In fact, that by and large is the Big 3's problem. In the 80s and 90s they would try to win back "import intenders" and this at least slowed the market share erosion. I feel like around 2000 they gave this up and resorted to a ton of gimmicks before the bankruptcies. So they have dropped from 66% to 37% of the market in a quarter century. Sure they have scaled down their presence and for the last 14 years preserved profit. But in the largest, most prosperous market in the world they are not leading. I mean who would think the Koreans could take almost 10% of the market? But they did because they built and structured products people wanted. (I also think the excess reliance on overseas assembly by the Big 3 hurts them vs more import brands building in US). But the domestics should really be at 60% of their home market and the fact that they are not speaks volumes. Cadillac should not be losing 2-1 to Lexus and BMW.
  • Tassos Not my favorite Eldorados. Too much cowbell (fins), the gauges look poor for such an expensive car, the interior has too many shiny bits but does not scream "flagship luxury", and the white on red leather or whatever is rather loud for this car, while it might work in a Corvette. But do not despair, a couple more years and the exterior designs (at least) will sober up, the cowbells will be more discreet and the long, low and wide 60s designs are not far away. If only the interiors would be fit for the price point, and especially a few acres of real wood that also looked real.
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