RE: Lotus unveils 2000hp, £2m Evija

[blueg33]

fblm said:

Good points. An Evora would be my ideal car ATM but i can't bring myself to spend so much on a Lotus...

Why? A 410 Sport is about £85k. What else is as good or better for the money that you would spend that much on?

I dont understand why people think a Lotus should be cheap. Its a hand made low volume car with class leading dynamics and in the case of the 410 etc loaded with carbon fibre, leather and alcantara.

[hairykrishna]

kambites said:

I don't think anyone is suggesting 800kw charging at home!

Where are they suggesting it happens? How are they connecting their 800kW into the bloody thing?

That was the bit of the whole article that made me stop and think "hang on, is this all marketing bks?". Is the billionaire owner supposed to budget another million quid for their own charging infrastructure?

[Composite Guru]

blueg33 said:

fblm said:

Good points. An Evora would be my ideal car ATM but i can't bring myself to spend so much on a Lotus...

Why? A 410 Sport is about £85k. What else is as good or better for the money that you would spend that much on?

I dont understand why people think a Lotus should be cheap. Its a hand made low volume car with class leading dynamics and in the case of the 410 etc loaded with carbon fibre, leather and alcantara.

That's because most people who don't know Lotus think they are some sort of kit car with no badge appeal. They would rather buy some yawn fest Porker for the same money and everyone know what it is.

[otolith]

kambites said:

So apparently I'm wrong, although curiously the next model they announced after that was an electric sports (well super) car.

It will be interesting to see what "all new" means in this context. Even if they do produce an ICE sports car, developing a new platform to take an ICE (rather than developing another VVA car) would imply a commitment to ICE for a number of models, which IMO would be utterly stupid.

My understanding is that there is one more new VVA or Elise platform car to come before the new platform.

[kambites]

blueg33 said:

Why? A 410 Sport is about £85k. What else is as good or better for the money that you would spend that much on?

I don't think that's relevant. Like it or not, most people put a sort of upper value on products of a particular brand. How good it is is irrelevant.

[otolith]

fblm said:

otolith said:

The proportion of renewables has been increasing in recent years, but as to whether the absolute amount of coal generation has declined, I don't know.

China are currently building over 300 coal power stations with nearly 500 planned by 2030!

Are they increasing coal capacity, though, or are they replacing the filthy old plants they've been using?

[otolith]

hairykrishna said:

kambites said:

I don't think anyone is suggesting 800kw charging at home!

Where are they suggesting it happens? How are they connecting their 800kW into the bloody thing?

That was the bit of the whole article that made me stop and think "hang on, is this all marketing bks?". Is the billionaire owner supposed to budget another million quid for their own charging infrastructure?

"Not only does the Lotus Evija feature the world’s most powerful automotive drivetrain, it also boasts the world’s fastest charging battery. Thanks to the partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering, the battery has the ability to accept an 800kW charge. Although charging units capable of delivering this are not yet commercially available, when they are it will be possible to fully replenish the battery in just nine minutes." - I just read that as more than able to exploit any fast charging system we are likely to see anytime soon.

[Herbs]

Stunning - i'm impressed with the level of future proofing thought that has gone into as well.

[Bo_apex]

hairykrishna said:

kambites said:

I don't think anyone is suggesting 800kw charging at home!

Where are they suggesting it happens? How are they connecting their 800kW into the bloody thing?

That was the bit of the whole article that made me stop and think "hang on, is this all marketing bks?". Is the billionaire owner supposed to budget another million quid for their own charging infrastructure?

They will need to plan their route very carefully, and they will need to sit around for 10 minutes at each stop

[blueg33]

kambites said:

blueg33 said:

Why? A 410 Sport is about £85k. What else is as good or better for the money that you would spend that much on?

I don't think that's relevant. Like it or not, most people put a sort of upper value on products of a particular brand. How good it is is irrelevant.

Which is dumb. How much would an Evora 410 be with a Ferrari or Lambo badge? Many people ask me what type of Ferrari or Lambo it is!

[shantybeater]

The most impressive part of all of this is the nine minute charge, that is a game changer. Once the weight comes down we are almost getting to the point of EV's being viable alternatives. I'd happily stop for a big mac for nine minutes.

[kambites]

blueg33 said:

Which is dumb.

Yup, but it's still true across just about all product markets.

[kambites]

shantybeater said:

The most impressive part of all of this is the nine minute charge, that is a game changer.

It's not a game changer unless there are charging stations capable of supplying that sort of current; which there aren't and quite possibly never will be. Personally I don't think the benefits of that sort of charging rate will every justify the costs.

[anonymous-user]

blueg33 said:

Why? A 410 Sport is about £85k. What else is as good or better for the money that you would spend that much on?

I dont understand why people think a Lotus should be cheap. Its a hand made low volume car with class leading dynamics and in the case of the 410 etc loaded with carbon fibre, leather and alcantara.

There's nothing comparable for the money I agree. It's an epic car but in my head Lotus make 30k Elise's (which if I didn't do the school run I'd have in a heart beat). You can call it badge snobbery if you like but my daily is an 11year old VW... I guess it's why brands like Infinity, Acura etc.. exist and why Nissan GTR's sell by the handful. A move into high end EV's could change Lotus's brand positioning dramatically.

[blueg33]

fblm said:

blueg33 said:

Why? A 410 Sport is about £85k. What else is as good or better for the money that you would spend that much on?

I dont understand why people think a Lotus should be cheap. Its a hand made low volume car with class leading dynamics and in the case of the 410 etc loaded with carbon fibre, leather and alcantara.

There's nothing comparable for the money I agree. It's an epic car but in my head Lotus make 30k Elise's (which if I didn't do the school run I'd have in a heart beat). You can call it badge snobbery if you like but my daily is an 11year old VW... I guess it's why brands like Infinity, Acura etc.. exist and why Nissan GTR's sell by the handful. A move into high end EV's could change Lotus's brand positioning dramatically.

Yes Lotus did themselves a disservice by only making the Elise for a long time (they are more than £30k, they start at £44k). I think the brand positioning is exactly what the Evijia is about. It will make it easier for them to sell a £150k supercar especially an electric one.

[Tuna]

I'm really rather impressed by that design - it's not full-on flashy, but the depth of detail and design going into it just keeps on coming. The Carfection video is fantastic and the numbers astonishing.

As usual, people on here wanting the mythical 'affordable Elise' (or now, the 'affordable sports EV') which is such a running joke with Lotus announcements, that I'm surprised some of the old hands have joined in.

I cannot wait to see this in the flesh, and look forward to the test drives. This is exactly what's needed to reposition Lotus, and remind people what they're about. Well done to the team, and to Geely for supporting it.

(As an aside, has anyone noticed the increased level of drive videos, articles and so on coming out around Lotus - I get the impression someone in marketing has been given a budget that pays for more than the daily tea bag for a change... )

[Bo_apex]

kambites said:

It's not a game changer unless there are charging stations capable of supplying that sort of current; which there aren't and quite possibly never will be. Personally I don't think the benefits of that sort of charging rate will every justify the costs.

Might be possible in large city centres, at some point in the future.

Probably a struggle to locate a CS in the middle of the Alps while your thrashing it down to the Cote D'Azur

[JD]

shantybeater said:

The most impressive part of all of this is the nine minute charge, that is a game changer.

It's also another made up point of confusion, Lotus themself say 18 minutes, on a charger that as yet does not exist.

[GingerPixel]

It looks awesome and it'll probably make your genitals hurt under full accelleration, and I'm pleased that Lotus are doing this instead of an SUV or trying to compete in the 300k supercar market.

I think it raises an interesting debate about the concept of the 'halo car' in general though. Why does it need to cost as much as a street of houses? When you think about creating something that represents the brand ideology then why does it make sense for it to be unobainium? I think something like the MX5 works as a halo car for Mazda much better than some kind of wheeled UFO ever would. This is the first example I could think of and probably isn't the best, but wouldn't it be great if Lotus made something you saw people who enjoyed driving out and about actually, you know, driving?

[otolith]

GingerPixel said:

This is the first example I could think of and probably isn't the best, but wouldn't it be great if Lotus made something you saw people who enjoyed driving out and about actually, you know, driving?

They do, and have been doing since 1996.