RE: Lotus unveils 2000hp, £2m Evija
Discussion
ReaperCushions said:
They should get an Evora and reengineer it with battery power, maybe team up with Tesla and call is the Tesla Roadster or something like that?
He said affordable. The Tesla Roadster cost a bloody fortune, and didn't handle that well due to the position of the battery pack and its tyres being optimised for economy. But maybe a new version based on the Evora would be different to the original Tesla Roadster, which was based on the Elise.
The bit that caught my eye with this was the ability to upgrade in future to more advances batteries. One of the things that would put me off buying an EV today is the thought that the tech would be quickly superceded, but if you can upgrade easily then it isn't a problem, even if the upgrade were expensive (cheaper than a while new car!). In future will there be a bigger separation between the car and the batteries that power it, so companies would build and sell a car without batteries and you could drop in whatever batteries you want, upgrade as you see fit and potentially keep the same chassis for much longer?
PBDirector said:
Have to say I’m slightly surprised that’s your conclusion, but fair enough. I would think that if it gets the engineers excited for a while, builds up experience/ capability, allows new ideas to be tried and tested, and 400M + aftersales in revenue, then that’s a good thing - no?
Can always take that learnin’ downmarket into the muggles’ version?
er, IP are supplying the motors and inverters (broadly OTS) and Williams AE are supplying the battery, so what exactly are Lotus "learning"? Sure it's a carbon tub, but plenty of those have been in volume production for ages now (i drive a car with a carbon tub and it's not a supercar....)Can always take that learnin’ downmarket into the muggles’ version?
Sure, this "vanity" project should at least break even, and generate interest, but imo, Lotus could do better, as this car is a stepping stone to nowwhere in particular. Instead, they could have taken WAE's skateboard chassis, done their own body work, put in some production spec motors (say from GKN) and a production spec battery pack, and build a £30k "sports car" with say 250 hp, and fun handling, and actually invented a market segment that doesn't yet really exist (the Original Tesla Roadster was almost that car, but at the time, the cost of the batteries and motors pushed up it's price and relegated it to a niche interest at best.
Lets face it, making a working hyper car for £2M is really pretty easy (small companies such as Rimac have already done it after all...) but it takes real engineering skill to make a £30k BEV sports car, and i'm not actually sure Lotus still have those sorts of skills?
The real innovation in BEVs is actually already happening, at large OEs such as VW, Mercedes, Peugeot etc, as they are learning right now how to design, develop and mass produce practical and affordable EVs. If Lotus wants to exist in say 10 years, then this is where they need to be focusing their efforts imo......
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 16th July 20:37
jimmytheone said:
Some impressive numbers not only the 2000kw on offer but 800kw / 9min charging.
I wonder who’s going to supply the charging network? Tesla is 100kw?
350kw charging is what Autocar are reporting. These are being rolled out quickly across Europe as VAG will be using them in the forthcoming Porsche / Audi EVs. Our closest fast charger (non-Tesla) already has them installed.I wonder who’s going to supply the charging network? Tesla is 100kw?
Snubs said:
The bit that caught my eye with this was the ability to upgrade in future to more advances batteries. One of the things that would put me off buying an EV today is the thought that the tech would be quickly superceded, but if you can upgrade easily then it isn't a problem, even if the upgrade were expensive (cheaper than a while new car!). In future will there be a bigger separation between the car and the batteries that power it, so companies would build and sell a car without batteries and you could drop in whatever batteries you want, upgrade as you see fit and potentially keep the same chassis for much longer?
er, all EVs could upgrade to new batteries, in the same way at all ICEs could updgrade to new engines or gearboxes. The problem, and the reason this doesn't actually happen is nothing to do with some profound impossibility, and everything to do with the cost and warranty implications of retro-fitting newer components to an older car without repeating the hugely costly validation and sign-off activities that were originally done. I expect quite soon aftermarket battery swaps will become a thing, but not ones from the original equipment manufacturers themselves.When I see this, I cant help but wonder how "regular" cars intrude on hypercars.
Look at what the Ferrari 488 does, compared to an Enzo.
At some point, you just know that a Tesla will have similar performance, and I would be pretty curious to know how the forthcoming 200k Roadster will perform in comparison to this 2m car.
If the Tesla Roadster is even remotely close, then at 1/10th the price, it will set the performance car world to talking.
Look at what the Ferrari 488 does, compared to an Enzo.
At some point, you just know that a Tesla will have similar performance, and I would be pretty curious to know how the forthcoming 200k Roadster will perform in comparison to this 2m car.
If the Tesla Roadster is even remotely close, then at 1/10th the price, it will set the performance car world to talking.
Max_Torque said:
PBDirector said:
Have to say I’m slightly surprised that’s your conclusion, but fair enough. I would think that if it gets the engineers excited for a while, builds up experience/ capability, allows new ideas to be tried and tested, and 400M + aftersales in revenue, then that’s a good thing - no?
Can always take that learnin’ downmarket into the muggles’ version?
er, IP are supplying the motors and inverters (broadly OTS) and Williams AE are supplying the battery, so what exactly are Lotus "learning"? Sure it's a carbon tub, but plenty of those have been in volume production for ages now (i drive a car with a carbon tub and it's not a supercar....)Can always take that learnin’ downmarket into the muggles’ version?
Sure, this "vanity" project should at least break even, and generate interest, but imo, Lotus could do better, as this car is a stepping stone to nowwhere in particular. Instead, they could have taken WAE's skateboard chassis, done their own body work, put in some production spec motors (say from GKN) and a production spec battery pack, and build a £30k "sports car" with say 250 hp, and fun handling, and actually invented a market segment that doesn't yet really exist (the Original Tesla Roadster was almost that car, but at the time, the cost of the batteries and motors pushed up it's price and relegated it to a niche interest at best.
Lets face it, making a working hyper car for £2M is really pretty easy (small companies such as Rimac have already done it after all...) but it takes real engineering skill to make a £30k BEV sports car, and i'm not actually sure Lotus still have those sorts of skills?
The real innovation in BEVs is actually already happening, at large OEs such as VW, Mercedes, Peugeot etc, as they are learning right now how to design, develop and mass produce practical and affordable EVs. If Lotus wants to exist in say 10 years, then this is where they need to be focusing their efforts imo......
Edited by Max_Torque on Tuesday 16th July 20:37
Surely this should be seen as the start of a renaissance for Lotus, this followed by an SUV will bring in the numbers required to develop the next generation of small lightweight sports cars. Isn’t that what people have been moaning about for years?
I really can’t see how anyone could be negative about this. It’s incredible if they can make it reality. Lotus isn’t a big company (I’m aware Geely is) and this is mighty impressive.
I really can’t see how anyone could be negative about this. It’s incredible if they can make it reality. Lotus isn’t a big company (I’m aware Geely is) and this is mighty impressive.
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