Get Grant Funds, Ariel Will Produce Electric Off-Roader Cars

Ariel Nomad is a conventional machine. (Doc. Ariel Motor)

JAKARTA - Ariel Motor Company is a small-scale car manufacturer from England with only 30 employees and only produces up to 100 cars per year.

However, there is the latest news from this producer because it has just received a grant from the British government of 300,000 pounds or approximately IDR 5.79 billion for the development of an electric off-roader car called Nomad.

However, to make it happen, Ariel is not alone but joins three partner companies and is planned to launch his products to the market in the coming years.

Quoted from Autocar, October 10, the funds were provided through the Niche Vehicle Network, a body established to help various specialist manufacturers in the UK. The agency itself is supported by the Advanced Propulsion Center (APC), a semi-government agency that provides grants to feasible mobility projects.

Ariel is considered to have succeeded in building a prototype electric car with previous battery power. The funds provided will be used to develop specifications that are ready for production, as well as include research on driving systems and batteries. It is possible that Nomad electric cars will use a four-wheel drive system.

Ariel's partners in the project include Rockfort, a battery research company that has a close connection to Formula E, and BAMD, a specialist in environmentally friendly biodegradable composite materials.

Simon Saunders, Ariel's leader, is reluctant to give a definite date for the Nomad electric-powered project, especially as the company is rumored to be only a few months away from launching a fully new Nomad 2 of gasoline.

"Small producers like us will get some kind of rule exemption that will allow us to continue producing our cars longer," said Saunders.

But Saunders emphasized two other priorities. First, he said that every Ariel electric car must be "dal and really good". Second, the car must have better performance than the conventional fuel Ariel car.