Tuesday 13th December 2011

Lotus goes hybrid

PistonHeads was everywhere at yesterday's Lotus lunch, getting the lowdown on Esprit from Bahar himself

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Buy a base model, new-era Lotus and it’ll be a hybrid. Go for the hardcore version and it’ll strip out the electric motor and plenty more besides to offer a lightweight, utterly focused sports machine.

That was the message from boss Dany Bahar yesterday as he revealed more about the future line up, which starts in 2013 with the launch of the V8 Esprit at the Geneva Motor Show.

“There is one powertrain, with two configurations. One is hybrid and the sporting variants are non-hybrid. That is the same approach for every car,” Bahar said.

He admitted the sporting variant might actually put out less horsepower once you’d taken away the 74KW (100hp) electric motor, despite a hike in power of the V8 (he mentioned a figure of 640bhp), but he promised the difference would be made up by shedding kilograms, achieved partly by extensive use of carbon.

“They’ll be pure driver’s cars, nothing unnecessary, no leather, and even the seats in carbon fibre. Whereas the base version is more mainstream,” he told us.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale...

He suggested the hotter versions could be dubbed R, with another, even more focused model above that. Talking about the Esprit he said “there will a second derivative of the R which is even more hardcore, which is even lighter. It’s pure nothing. We call it [internally] GT3.”

Way down the other end of the scale, he revealed the Ethos supermini, developed as a range-extended hybrid or pure EV, will cost around £29-30,000 when it goes on sale after the cooking Proton version is launched in 2014.

Bahar also talked about the future for the current range of cars. The cost of the carbon-fibre bodied Evora GTE, which will go on sale in March, will be between £110,000-£120.000. Powered by a 444hp supercharged version of the 3.5 V6, it loses around 120kg compared to the standard car.

Traditionalists rejoice - there's life in the Elise til 2015

He also confirmed a “heavy programme” of improvement for the current Elise, continuing to 2015, and the Exige, which goes beyond that. Lotus already has 270 orders for the 3.5-litre V6 Exige S.

And finally we had to ask him about the Lotus partnership with Swizz Beatz. Sorry, but we just don’t get it…. “It’s because it’s not meant for this part of the world, it’s meant for the US,” Bahar said unapologetically. “What our tie-up with him has done in three to four months is incredible. Our products are in many music videos, we have designed five really, really very good looking chrome-coloured cars and we’ve sold five of them for a silly price, and all through him. It’s a different world.”

Evora GTE will cost £120K

V6 Exige S has already got 270 orders

[Mannginger]

A £30k supermini?



Presume that's like Aston's Cygnet? A sop to the EU manufacturer emissions rather than a serious vehicle?

[Dan Trent]

And, yes, Nick was better at working the seating plan than I was! But there was no escaping the PH dictaphone...

Dan

[crofty1984]

Sounds good to me.

[boobles]

Mannginger said:

A £30k supermini?



Presume that's like Aston's Cygnet? A sop to the EU manufacturer emissions rather than a serious vehicle?

This is correct.

[thewheelman]

I can't help but think the Lotus brand has been somewhat diluted.

[ZesPak]

thewheelman said:

I can't help but think the Lotus brand has been somewhat diluted.

Who cares, as long as they make that Evora & Esprit

Don't forget, if Porsche never made the Boxster and the Cayenne, they could just as well not exist anymore.
So I'm glad they produced them. And the Boxster is a brilliant car (if you cant afford a 911 ).

Worse are the brands that just stopped producing interesting cars, like Toyota, maybe Honda to a certain extent, just to produce a never ending stream of boxes in various sizes on wheels.

Edited by ZesPak on Tuesday 13th December 10:17

[thewheelman]

boobles said:

Mannginger said:

A £30k supermini?



Presume that's like Aston's Cygnet? A sop to the EU manufacturer emissions rather than a serious vehicle?

This is correct.

Wrong! Lotus being a premium brand will bring more awareness to the Ethos EV globally than Proton ever could with their branded version. The Lotus Ethos could have impressive sales in America.

[anonymous-user]

boobles said:

This is correct.

Wouldnt a Hybrid based on the current elise been better suited?

[ZesPak]

MonkeyMatt said:

boobles said:

This is correct.

Wouldnt a Hybrid based on the current elise been better suited?

Problem would be that it would be:

1) About 140bhp
2) Heavier because of hybrid tech
3) More expensive to produce than a regular one

So that would make a slower, worse handling Elise for more money.

[Mr Gear]

This is a bit of a dilemma for people like Lotus. They know that they can get a more powerful, economical and flexible engine by using hybrid power, but they add weight, which for Lotus should be seen as a no-no.

Therefore the dilemma is, do you make the hybrid the base model or the top-end model?

Seems like Lotus are at a bit of a turning point at the moment, but are they taking a wrong turn? Should they really be making the hybrid the real supercar, and saving the ultra-lightweight go-kart stuff for the Elises?

[Mr Gear]

ZesPak said:

Problem would be that it would be:

1) About 140bhp
2) Heavier because of hybrid tech
3) More expensive to produce than a regular one

So that would make a slower, worse handling Elise for more money.

Agree... but why would it be slower? Hybrid is a power-adder. KERS doesn't make F1 cars slower does it?

[BuzzLightyear]

Hopefully, Lotus can continue to sell cars which are c£30K TO £40K to its existing customer base AND cover the higher price ranges which are dominated by Porsche at present.

In particular, apart from Porsche, there seems to be a dearth of proper sportscars in the £30k to £60k price bracket, only "sporting" cars offered by the big three German marques. If Lotus can put 2 or 3 models in this price range, they should do well although above that price band (over £70k), IMO they might struggle as there is some serious, established competition and it has not been Lotus territory, traditionally.

Best of luck to them!

ETA I like the styling of these cars, especially the Esprit - would love to see one in the "metal" for a proper look though.

Edited by BuzzLightyear on Tuesday 13th December 10:36

[boobles]

thewheelman said:

boobles said:

Mannginger said:

A £30k supermini?



Presume that's like Aston's Cygnet? A sop to the EU manufacturer emissions rather than a serious vehicle?

This is correct.

Wrong! Lotus being a premium brand will bring more awareness to the Ethos EV globally than Proton ever could with their branded version. The Lotus Ethos could have impressive sales in America.

I was agreeing that the reason for the city car was to reduce emissions through out the range.
Aston Martin have done it aswel.

Edited by boobles on Tuesday 13th December 10:47

[ZesPak]

Mr Gear said:

ZesPak said:

Problem would be that it would be:

1) About 140bhp
2) Heavier because of hybrid tech
3) More expensive to produce than a regular one

So that would make a slower, worse handling Elise for more money.

Agree... but why would it be slower? Hybrid is a power-adder. KERS doesn't make F1 cars slower does it?

Slower because the power of the petrol engine would be reduced (in order to make it a real A-label eco-car)?
It would indeed be faster (but also heavier) if it's just the "hybrid as an extra", but from the sound of the article that's the intention, no?

[Mr Gear]

ZesPak said:

Slower because the power of the petrol engine would be reduced (in order to make it a real A-label eco-car)?
It would indeed be faster (but also heavier) if it's just the "hybrid as an extra", but from the sound of the article that's the intention, no?

I think that's a bit speculative. You could make the hybrid do any number of things from cutting emissions/consumption to giving a tyre-shredding low-range boost. It depends on what Lotus want to achieve I guess.

[Wadeski]

I think people are waking up to how irrelevant British (or even european) taste is in the world - expect to see more and more luxury car makers tailor product to Chinese, Middle Eastern and US customers.

[Johnboy Mac]

bks to all these press releases and media hype. Let's see the products Lotus.

[ZesPak]

If this wasn't a lotus article, I could have sworn that's a DS1.

C1:


DS3:


DS4:

[Rawwr]

thewheelman said:

I can't help but think the Lotus brand has been somewhat diluted.

Good, because it would've ended up piss-broke and bust without the dilution.

[collateral]

They need to handle and have decent power to weight. Why not 3 versions - hybrid, hot and non-hybrid?