RE: Lotus design boss on Evija | Time for Tea

RE: Lotus design boss on Evija | Time for Tea

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blueg33

35,574 posts

223 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
A1VDY said:
Cold said:
Noesph said:
I keep thinking eejit when I see it.

"Will that feckin eejit in the lotus ejjit move out the way!"
Interesting. I wonder you'd have to be driving to be flashing a 2000bhp Lotus out of the way. biggrin
Any car would do, it'd be more like flashing the Lotus as you're dodging the bits falling off and finally negotiating your way around it when it finally expires.
Guaranteed to have major flaws.

Ps, I have a lotus.. wink
No major flaws on my Lotus, I’m on my second.

I note that your Lotus is a 50 year old Ford wink

Probably not the best benchmark.

lotuslover69

269 posts

142 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
Even though it weighs 1700kgs it is still lighter than a Nissan GTR.

You have Rimac who knows little to nothing about building cars as your main rival. I just cannot see how Rimac can compete with the Evija (pronounced Ev eye a). Lotus are quite possibly the very best when it comes to building cars that handle and drive beautifully.

Edited by lotuslover69 on Saturday 23 May 09:39

plenty

4,655 posts

185 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
flukey5 said:
I'm still finding it difficult to see how the Evija and the electric future of Lotus fits into their brand ethos.
Battery tech is improving rapidly and eventually electric cars will become lighter, but yes we won’t be seeing sub 1 tonne full-range electric cars anytime soon.

But that’s besides the point. The Evija exists to get people talking about Lotus. If Lotus had announced another minimalist petrol car no-one other than a handful of die-hard enthusiasts would have paid any attention.

flukey5

403 posts

59 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
plenty said:
flukey5 said:
I'm still finding it difficult to see how the Evija and the electric future of Lotus fits into their brand ethos.
Battery tech is improving rapidly and eventually electric cars will become lighter, but yes we won’t be seeing sub 1 tonne full-range electric cars anytime soon.

But that’s besides the point. The Evija exists to get people talking about Lotus. If Lotus had announced another minimalist petrol car no-one other than a handful of die-hard enthusiasts would have paid any attention.
I'm not so sure. When the alpine a110 came out it was lavished with praise and attention. Lotus with all their expertise can surely produce the same thing, but better - no?

I get halo cars as a concept but to my mind the only one that has ever worked well is the Audi R8, and that's mostly because of its appearance in films and affordability just about in the realms where normal people may one day buy one. You do occasionally see them on the road.

Whereas engines haven't changed much in the best part of 50 years, battery tech is about to become obsolete very quickly. It would be a shame to see lotus jump on the bandwagon now while they have to make serious compromises instead of waiting for less compromised technology.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
flukey5 said:
battery tech is about to become obsolete very quickly. It would be a shame to see lotus jump on the bandwagon now while they have to make serious compromises instead of waiting for less compromised technology.
The electric motor is completely agnostic to where its electricity comes from, which actually makes an EV the ultimate in obsolecence resistance! Lets say someone invents a new battery tomorrow, with 5 times the energy density and 10 times less cost, well you just take out your current battery and fit that new battery, and your car can now leverage all those advantages with no change, it has NOT become obsolecent....

Even if somehow hydrogen fuel cells suddenly becamce viable then because they too make electricity, you could almost certainly fit one of those too, and your motors would still work, because electricity is electricity.......

Whilst theoretically that is also possible with an ICE, the numerous complex support systems and proprietry nature of the specific components on one car make it non-viable in practicality.



plenty

4,655 posts

185 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
flukey5 said:
I'm not so sure. When the alpine a110 came out it was lavished with praise and attention. Lotus with all their expertise can surely produce the same thing, but better - no?
Lotus have been producing the same thing - for the last 20 years. The A110 doesn’t use any technologies that are significantly more advanced than the Elise. The A110 was interesting because it was the revival of an old brand and a new sports-car design from a mainstream manufacturer. Everyone expects Lotus to produce light mid-engined cars...no-one expected Renault to. Lotus can’t continue just doing more of the same thing if it’s to revitalise.

And the only people paying attention to the A110 are reasonably hardcore petrolheads, whereas the Evija caught the attention even of people who aren’t especially interested in cars.

I have zero interest in the Evija as a car as it is completely irrelevant to my personal needs, but as an exercise in re-positioning Lotus as a company invested in the future, it fulfilled its brief.

Hugh Jarse

3,486 posts

204 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
flukey5 said:
battery tech is about to become obsolete very quickly. It would be a shame to see lotus jump on the bandwagon now while they have to make serious compromises instead of waiting for less compromised technology.
The electric motor is completely agnostic to where its electricity comes from, which actually makes an EV the ultimate in obsolecence resistance! Lets say someone invents a new battery tomorrow, with 5 times the energy density and 10 times less cost, well you just take out your current battery and fit that new battery, and your car can now leverage all those advantages with no change, it has NOT become obsolecent....

Even if somehow hydrogen fuel cells suddenly becamce viable then because they too make electricity, you could almost certainly fit one of those too, and your motors would still work, because electricity is electricity.......

Whilst theoretically that is also possible with an ICE, the numerous complex support systems and proprietry nature of the specific components on one car make it non-viable in practicality.
well said!

lotuslover69

269 posts

142 months

Saturday 23rd May 2020
quotequote all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=656&am...

great video from Hoffmans, talks about last Lotus Elise ever to be built in the video (not exactly sure what he means).

jase_llan

148 posts

56 months

Sunday 24th May 2020
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blueg33 said:
Its low weight for its power train and has loads of power - so power to weight is good

A Mcl P1 or a La Ferrari have much smaller batteries and are only about 100kg lighter and half about half the power.

The Rimac is 1950kg
Yes, it's light compared to similar cars but you can't escape the 'twice the weight of an Elise' point above.

blueg33

35,574 posts

223 months

Sunday 24th May 2020
quotequote all
jase_llan said:
blueg33 said:
Its low weight for its power train and has loads of power - so power to weight is good

A Mcl P1 or a La Ferrari have much smaller batteries and are only about 100kg lighter and half about half the power.

The Rimac is 1950kg
Yes, it's light compared to similar cars but you can't escape the 'twice the weight of an Elise' point above.
That may be a fact, but its really not relevant.

NewUsername

925 posts

55 months

Tuesday 26th May 2020
quotequote all
jase_llan said:
blueg33 said:
Its low weight for its power train and has loads of power - so power to weight is good

A Mcl P1 or a La Ferrari have much smaller batteries and are only about 100kg lighter and half about half the power.

The Rimac is 1950kg
Yes, it's light compared to similar cars but you can't escape the 'twice the weight of an Elise' point above.
Of course you can.....why compare to a different type of car that you wont be allowed to build soon

If you compare apples with apples the Evija is pretty light

Europa1

10,923 posts

187 months

Tuesday 26th May 2020
quotequote all
NewUsername said:
jase_llan said:
blueg33 said:
Its low weight for its power train and has loads of power - so power to weight is good

A Mcl P1 or a La Ferrari have much smaller batteries and are only about 100kg lighter and half about half the power.

The Rimac is 1950kg
Yes, it's light compared to similar cars but you can't escape the 'twice the weight of an Elise' point above.
Of course you can.....why compare to a different type of car that you wont be allowed to build soon

If you compare apples with apples the Evija is pretty light
Indeed. "Twice the weight of an Elise"...and how many times the power?

A1VDY

3,575 posts

126 months

Tuesday 26th May 2020
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
A1VDY said:
Cold said:
Noesph said:
I keep thinking eejit when I see it.

"Will that feckin eejit in the lotus ejjit move out the way!"
Interesting. I wonder you'd have to be driving to be flashing a 2000bhp Lotus out of the way. biggrin
Any car would do, it'd be more like flashing the Lotus as you're dodging the bits falling off and finally negotiating your way around it when it finally expires.
Guaranteed to have major flaws.

Ps, I have a lotus.. wink
No major flaws on my Lotus, I’m on my second.

I note that your Lotus is a 50 year old Ford wink

Probably not the best benchmark.
No definetly a Lotus. Mk 1's were 'Lotus cortina' and assembled at Hethel. Mk2' s had far more Ford input and were ' Cortina Lotus'

wink

Ps, mine is/was Colin Chapmans own car. It still has all its original parts Inc the notorious A frame. Maybe he had some input to make sure his was screwed together a bit better.. biggrin



Edited by A1VDY on Tuesday 26th May 19:39