Zenos
Zenos Cars is an automotive company that produces high-performance, light-weight sports cars. Based in Wymondham, Norfolk, UK, the company designs, manufactures and sells three variants of the Zenos E10 car.
|
Type |
Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | May 22, 2012 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Wymondham, United Kingdom |
|
Key people |
Mark Edwards (Managing Director) |
| Products | Sports cars |
| Brands | Zenos |
| Website | Zenoscars |
Background
The company was founded in Norfolk in 2012. The founders, Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards, had worked together before at Lotus Cars and later at Caterham Cars.
Edwards and Ali believed there was a gap in the market for lightweight, contemporary high-performance sports cars that were affordable to purchase and to run. Before the company’s first product line, the E10 series, was designed, the founders agreed on a price point that would be attractive to potential customers, and determined if a clean-sheet design could be produced and sold at such a level.
The development phase of Zenos’s first series of models included driving days with deposit-holders and potential customers, with the aim of ensuring that drivers and passengers would be both comfortably accommodated and fully engaged.
Matt Windle, Operations Director, joined the company in October 2015, bringing production expertise gained during a seven-year spell as Principal Engineer at Tesla, as well as through his role as Chief Engineer, Body at Caterham Technology and Innovation (CTI), and positions at Lotus Cars, Nissan, Volvo and Daewoo. Chris Weston, Head of Development, played a key role in engineering the car and readying it for production.
Name
The name Zenos is said to be a combination of ‘zen’, representing purity, and ‘os’, which is loosely Latin for 'vertebra' or spine – reflecting one of the key architectural elements of the company’s products.
Partners
Zenos Cars has used a number of partners in the design and development of its products. They include: Drive – exterior and interior design; Multimatic Technical Centre Europe (MTCE) – chassis design; Ford and Hendy Power – powertrain package supply; Specialist Control Systems – ECU development;Avon Tyres; Alcon Components – brakes and clutches; OZ Racing – wheels; Titan Motorsport – design and production of key components; Bilstein – shock absorbers; and Tillett Racing Seats. Zenos Cars has also received support from the Niche Vehicle Network, and from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership through the Growing Business Fund.
Factory and production
Zenos Cars are hand-produced in the company’s factory in Wymondham, Norfolk, UK. Production of the Zenos E10 and E10 S began in January 2015. The Zenos E10 R was announced in November 2015, with production starting in January 2016.
Sales and network
Zenos sports cars are currently sold in the UK, USA, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, China, Switzerland and Italy. Non-UK markets account for 50% of Zenos production.
In the UK, Zenos has a network consisting of four service agents – who may also sell vehicles – and two sales partners in Scotland and north-west England.
Current cars
Zenos E10
A mid-engined sports car. The first pre-production car was made available to the press in October 2014.Production started in Norfolk in January 2015. The ‘E’ in the car's name is taken from MD and co-founder Mark Edwards’ surname, while the ‘10’ signifies that this is the 10th car project he has been involved in.
The car features an aluminium 'spine' to which a composite passenger ‘tub’ and front and rear subframes are attached. The ‘spine’ is believed to be the largest single aluminium extrusion used in any road car, with a torsional stiffness in excess of 10,000 Nm/degree.
The composite ‘tub’ of the E10 is formed of a ‘sandwich’ that comprises a thermoset plastic core contained between sheets of carbon fibre. The latter utilise pieces of carbon fibre that have been discarded in other processes. It is estimated that the resulting material delivers 70% of the mechanical performance of ‘virgin’ carbon fibre at significantly lower cost.
A key feature of the Zenos E10 is its spacious cabin, which has been designed to comfortably accommodate people from 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) tall to 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall. The cabin also incorporates an additional central screen, allowing the passenger to view information that would normally only be visible to the driver.
The car features inboard front springs and dampers and replaceable GRP body panels, which are intended to reduce repair costs in the event of an accident.
Zenos E10 S
Similar to the E10, but with the turbocharged 2.0 L Ford EcoBoost engine, delivering 190 kW (250 bhp) @ 7,000 rpm and 400 N·m (300 lbf·ft) @ 2,500 rpm. Production began at the same time as for the E10.
The E10 S accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 4.0 seconds, and can reach 145 mph (233 km/h).
Zenos E10 R
This car with a higher-powered 2.3 L Ford EcoBoost engine, delivering 260 kW (350 bhp) @ 6,000 rpm and 475 N·m (350 lbf·ft) @ 4,000 rpm, was launched at the Performance Car Show, Birmingham, in January 2016.
The E10 R has uniquely tuned suspension and brakes, and the dry vehicle weight of 700 kg has been helped by wheels that are each 2.5 kg lighter than those fitted to the E10 S.
The car can accelerate from zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) in as little as 3.0 seconds, and reach a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h). Standard equipment levels are higher than those of the E10 and E10 S, and include six-speed manual gearbox, ventilated disc brakes and uprated four-pot callipers, and twin-skin composite seats with four-point racing harnesses.
No models found