Ex-Tesla engineers launch luxury electric sports car startup: 'Making every effort to make cars available ... as quickly as possible'

Looks like Tesla needs to watch its back. Longbow, a U.K.-based startup, will release "featherweight" electric sports cars that you can ride in style without worrying so much about your carbon footprint.

The company was founded by Jenny Keisu, Daniel Davey, and Mark Tapscott, two of whom are Tesla alumni.

Davey, per his LinkedIn, "had two stints at Tesla commercialising the Roadster and then scaling with the Model 3." Tapscott worked at Tesla for seven years, where he successfully launched products and said he "got shouted at by Elon (a lot)."

They have developed two models, the Speedster and the Roadster, which are set to be released next year. So far, only U.K. customers can make reservations.

The Speedster, which is scheduled to be released first, costs over $110,000. Only 150 models will be made, making it the more exclusive of the two.

The Roadster is a bit cheaper, at around $84,000. A set number of models hasn't been announced yet, though Longbow has hinted at a much larger production scale. Both cars will have 240-kilowatt motors.

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This would put them in direct competition with Tesla, whose second-generation Roadster — though delayed for five years and counting — is rumored to be released sometime this year. (And yes — that is the same name.)

Regardless of the manufacturer, electric vehicle sales have been steadily increasing since 2016, with over 1 million being sold in the U.S. alone in 2024. Thanks to cheaper routine maintenance costs and lower pollution rates, people everywhere want to make their next car an EV.

If you want to take the Roadster for a spin but live outside the U.K., don't worry. While Longbow's cars will only be available in the U.K. upon release, the company plans to expand. Tapscott told Forbes: "Whilst launching in our home country and Europe, we will be making every effort to make cars available as widely and as quickly as possible."

If you were going to purchase an EV, which of these factors would be most important to you?

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