Elemental Motor Company is a British low-volume performance

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

manufacturing company that produces the Elemental RP1, a road-legal two seater sports car. The company is based in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, United Kingdom.

Background

Elemental Motor Company was founded in 2012 by John Begley, a former

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

engineer with experience in

BTCC The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

race cars, and Mark Fowler, a former McLaren F1 Aerodynamics Engineer. The company's first car, the Elemental RP1 (or Race Project One) was introduced as a prototype at the

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hillclimb and other events, held in Goodwood House, West Sussex, in late June or early July. Th ...

in 2014. A re-engineered, production-ready model was presented at the same hill climb event in 2016. The first customer cars were delivered in 2017. Elemental Motor Company also operates as a design and engineering consultancy, producing the AP-0 EV show car for technology partner

Apex Motors Apex Motors is a Hong Kong and British-based car company founded by Hong Kong/Australian brothers Jason and Gary Leung in 2018 and evolved from the Elemental RP-1. The company launched in 2019 with a limited production AP-1 open road and track spo ...

in 2020. In 2021, Elemental announced the development of the RP1 EV, a BEV variant of the RP1, in collaboration with Apex.

Products

Elemental RP1

The RP1 is a lightweight, open-top, road-legal sports car produced by Elemental. It was first revealed as a prototype at the

in 2014 and a re-engineered production-ready model was presented in 2016. The original RP1 was powered by a longitudinally mounted 2.0l

Ford EcoBoost engine EcoBoost is a series of turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engines produced by Ford and originally co-developed by FEV Inc. (now FEV North America Inc.). EcoBoost engines are designed to deliver power and torque consistent with those of ...

, paired with a semi stressed six-speed sequential

Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

gearbox. Weighing 620 kg with 320bhp, it had a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement ...

of 516bhp/ton. Later 2.3l engine variants with 375bhp had a power-to-weight ratio of 604bhp/ton. The car accelerates to 60mph in 2.7 seconds and has a top speed of 170mph. It features a carbon fibre tub that weighs 68 kg and meets FIA racing standards. The car has steel subframes at both ends, allowing for easy replacement. It has double wishbone suspension and inboard Nitron dampers at the front and rear. The Elemental RP1 has a weight distribution of 47/53 front to rear. It features a paddle shifting, pneumatic actuated gearbox controlled by the ECU. The vehicle offers up to 400 kg of downforce at 150mph, thanks to deep diffusers at the front and rear. The driving position is feet-up, similar to a single-seat racecar, which enhances the aerodynamics with front and rear diffusers. Later variants of the RP1 use the 2.3l Ford Ecoboost engine with a revised output of 375bhp producing 500 kg of downforce at 150mph. In collaboration with ex-McLaren Formula 1 aerodynamicist Mark Taylor, the RP1 underwent enhancements to its bodywork using

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

, resulting in an increase in downforce to 1000kg at 150mph. The car was reviewed by Autocar in 2015 and deliveries started in 2017. Endurance racer

David Pittard David Graeme Pittard (born 29 January 1992) is a British racing driver who competes in the Nürburgring Endurance Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship. He was part of the Frikadelli Racing Team entry which won the 2023 24 Hours of Nürburgring. ...

worked with Elemental as a test and development driver before returning to pro racing in 2017. In October 2023, the Elemental RP1 became an option on the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

2021 racing game Forza Horizons 5.

References

External links

Official website
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Sports car manufacturers British companies established in 2012 Manufacturing companies established in 2012 British racecar constructors Sports prototypes Companies based in Hampshire Cars of England Kit car manufacturers 2012 establishments in England 2010s cars Car brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2012 Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles Roadsters Cars introduced in 2012 Mid-engined cars

Background

Products

Elemental RP1

See also

References

External links