19 April 2024, My Reasons For Doing This Project

Kew – Why?

1.       Societal Need.

Most cities in the UK and across Europe were originally laid out and planned around people. Streets were public spaces and used as much for pedestrians and discourse as for travel by wheeled vehicles. Speeds were lower and road users were not pitted against each other. Much less of the total area (if any) was given over to parked vehicles. We need to recover our shared road-space for the benefit of all.

2.       Technical Ability.

As a team, we have the professional ability, proven track record and ambition to make this happen. My own career in vehicle design and development has included many projects which have explored aspects of this subject – the reimagining of cars suitable for cities, rather than the current situation where cities have become subservient to cars. Beyond this, we all have direct experience of many projects which have shown opportunities for very cost-effective development, as well as those where apparent cost savings would in fact be false economies. As a result, I sincerely believe that we have a unique insight and capability to ensure this venture can succeed at a much-reduced cost while also delivering a well designed and innovative product that the public will want to use.

3.       Investment Requirement and Availability.

This project can be done at a much lower cost than the mainstream motor industry OEMs would ever believe. However, it would be a wasted opportunity to do it on the cheap, to cut corners and end up with an unsaleable product. We need to be clear about the right price for the job. Certainly, we should not expect anyone to take the financial risk who is not able to do so. I imagine that any government matched funding would also be contingent on there being a business plan that recognizes these sensible commercial realities; the rate for the job, other commercial partners being properly remunerated and so on. Investors will need to have a sufficiently long-term commitment to allow the project to realise its potential.

4.       Commercial Opportunity.

The aim is to create a sustainably prosperous business. This means the product will need to be sufficiently attractive over the long term and to a wide enough cohort of users. The product development activity must continue beyond the end of the first vehicle – we need to be the ones who make our product obsolete, not our competitors. We also need to diversify our product to create additional vehicle types – a last mile delivery variant being potentially the biggest earner. Traditionally, small vehicles have become a marginally profitable business in recent decades, so we need to explore ways to make the revenue per unit produced better for the business. In the longer term, we also need to encourage a much wider shareholder base to build public engagement and support.

Jonathan Holt. 19^th April 2024.