Carice Electric Sports Car Is Tiny, Beautiful, Kinda ExpensiveCarice Electric Sports Car Is Tiny, Beautiful, Kinda Expensive

Electric sports cars are not a major priority for automakers right now.
Traditionally, sports cars of any sort don’t sell in huge numbers (Mazda’s Miata is still shy of a million units and it’s a quarter century old now) so electric ones are even more of a niche.
That means it’s up to companies like Carice Cars to provide our open-air electric thrills.
The Carice Mk1 is a small, electric-powered speedster that very, very closely resembles a classic Porsche 356–not that we’re complaining.
According to Autovisie, Carice founder Richard Holleman says the shape is a “tribute” to German design, but also suggests there’s some Italian influence in the lines. And overall, it’s a tribute to “everything that used to be beautiful”.
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Unfortunately, the Carice website isn’t forthcoming on the car’s powertrain details, nor what size battery pack the vehicle uses.
Given the entire car weighs just 771 lbs–that isn’t a misprint–we strongly suspect the battery pack is quite small, and the car is limited to shorter journeys. The Mk1 doesn’t have a roof (of any kind) though, so perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.
Carice does disclose the power output of the car though–4 kW, 15 kW and 40 kW respectively.
The lowest output is designed for drivers from the age of 16 in continental Europe, just as Renault offers a 4 kW version of the Twizy urban electric car for the same purpose. The highest, at around 53 horsepower, should still make for a brisk vehicle given the low curb weight.
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Holleman also states the car uses a backbone chassis, like that of the classic Lotus Elan sports car. The Mk1’s battery pack sits along the central bar of the chassis, for optimal weight distribution and a low center of gravity.
Carice has actually been producing cars in tiny numbers since 2009, but with the Mk1 the company now aims to sell cars on a larger scale.
Pricing starts from around $36,000 at current exchange rates, which isn’t cheap. But in the Netherlands, where Carice is based, the car will no doubt benefit from local tax breaks and running cost advantages, so the car may find a few fans.
The rest of us will just have to keep pushing major automakers to build us a proper electric sports car…
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