Morgan has unveiled its second iteration of a battery-electric three-wheeler, this time referred to as XP-1, with its eye set firmly on constructing its EV technical and manufacturing information to arrange for the arrival of battery-powered fashions. 

The Morgan XP-1, which makes use of the physique and aluminium monocoque chassis of the Ford-powered Super 3 launched practically two years in the past, has an all-new electrical powertrain designed and constructed in-house below the supervision of the corporate’s new chief technical officer, Matt Hole, a extremely skilled former electrification marketing consultant who has labored for all kinds of world OEMs for over 15 years. 

Hole mentioned the XP-1 gained’t go into manufacturing in its present type – and refused to place a date on any showroom model – however confirmed that the prototype was being subjected to testing and inspection regimes as robust as any manufacturing mannequin.

For now, he mentioned, its key perform is to assist Morgan develop “a full vehicle toolchain” – a collection of appropriate elements and supporting software program that can be utilized for all future Morgans.

The Malvern-based firm experimented seven years in the past with a 61bhp electrical three-wheeler referred to as EV3. It was an elegant-looking, single-headlight design unveiled on the 2016 Geneva motor present.

Like XP-1, it was additionally styled in-house however again then used the structure of Morgan’s now-superseded V-twin-powered 3 Wheeler. 

For the EV3, design of the battery and powertrain was left to an outdoor consultancy whose enterprise foundered earlier than a promised batch of vehicles, priced round £30,000 a throw, could possibly be delivered.

Company bosses have mentioned the arrival of Hole in 2021 to take cost of Morgan’s technical technique will guarantee no such errors are made once more.

The XP-1 powertrain consists of a surprisingly compact 134bhp electrical motor mounted within the chassis’s central tunnel, with a small planetary gearbox on its finish to gear the drive appropriately earlier than it goes right into a 90deg bevel field, as earlier than, after which (by chain, not belt) to the fats single rear wheel.