Lotus has unveiled a brand new EV idea which it calls “Idea 1,” a light-weight(-ish) electrical sportscar idea impressed by the Lotus Esprit with practically 1,000hp and able to speeds as much as 200mph.
Right here at Electrek, we see and report on a lot of wild EV ideas. These ideas are sometimes accompanied by lengthy treatises on how the design incorporates numerous “core ideas,” pointless branding of issues that can by no means make it to manufacturing, and buzzwords aplenty.
In a method, the Idea 1 is not any completely different. My eyes glazed over on the 2,000+ phrases in Lotus’ press launch earlier than reaching the desk of technical specs.
And but, there may be nonetheless one thing right here, as a result of that is Lotus – an organization with an extremely important motorsport heritage… and a big electrical automotive heritage too.
Lotus is the corporate that supplied the light-weight “gliders” on which the unique Tesla Roadster, the automotive that began the fashionable electrical automobile period, was constructed.
And these days, Lotus has gotten into electrical automobiles by itself, with the $2million Evija hypercar and the consumer-focused Eletre SUV and Emeya Hyper-GT.
However you’ll discover – a type of issues will not be just like the others. Regardless of being an organization well-known for its concentrate on small automobiles, owing to founder Colin Chapman’s principle to “simplify, then add lightness,” the Eletre and Emeya are each over 5,500lbs, greater than twice the load of the unique Tesla Roadster.
And so, Lotus’ new Idea 1 – packed filled with probably-unrealistic idea options, but in addition clearly going downmarket from the Evija’s eyewatering $2million pricetag – might sign considerably of a return to kind for the wayward small-car maker.
That’s as a result of its curb weight is listed at a way more affordable 1600kg, or 3,527lbs. That is nonetheless hefty in comparison with absolutely the lightest autos on the street proper now, but it surely’s on the decrease finish of strongest sportscars obtainable in the present day (together with lighter than the Evija), fairly low in comparison with different EVs, and considerably lower than some ridiculous gas-powered chonkers.
It’s additionally much more than the unique Lotus Esprit which the Idea 1 takes inspiration from, which started at round 2,000lbs. However later variations of the identical automobile weighed as a lot as round 3,000lbs, not too far off from the Idea 1.
In that comparatively small bundle, Lotus claims it has match some nice efficiency specs.
Its 986hp powertrain is able to sprinting 0-100km/h (62mph) in lower than 2.5 seconds, with a high pace of 320km/h (198mph).
Power comes from a 70kWh battery with a 250 mile vary. It is a little smaller than a few of the bigger batteries we’ve seen round (the Eletre has a 112kWh battery, for instance), however that’s the advantage of having a light-weight, low-slung automobile.
However specs don’t inform all the pieces about how a automobile feels to drive. And Lotus is promising to convey distinctive driving dynamics to this automobile, by strategies like together with the motor and battery as pressured members and mounting the rear wing on to the suspension meeting.
It additionally desires to make use of steer-by-wire, a expertise which has been considered for a very long time however solely not too long ago has made its method into manufacturing autos, just like the Lexus RZ and Cybertruck.
However maybe probably the most placing a part of the driving force expertise on the Idea 1 is its 3-seat design, seating the driving force within the middle of the automobile, much like the famed McLaren F1.
The automotive’s mild weight comes from in depth use of superior supplies like carbon fiber and titanium, that are certain to spice up the value of this automobile in the event that they make it to manufacturing. In that previously-mentioned 2,000 phrases, there’s loads of speak about 3D printing and recycled supplies as properly.
However Lotus says that it desires to cut back the quantity of “A-surface supplies” – these you possibly can contact – right down to 10 or fewer, in comparison with the 100-or-so in most automobiles.
“There’s been this era of maximalism, and other people having to do one-upmanship and go above, above, above. And I believe we’ve reached that time the place it plateaus in stylistic phrases, and in addition within the demonstration of tech. We’re not in a loopy numbers race with this automotive.”
-Lotus design VP Ben Payne, as quoted by Wired
So the unique Lotus philosophy of “simplify, then add lightness” is definitely current on this idea, signaling a return to kind for the model after a couple of years of wandering within the desert.
Lastly, whereas we’re simply speaking a few idea right here, we’ve definitely seen loads of EV ideas make their method into manufacturing ultimately or one other. Even significantly wild ones just like the BMW Imaginative and prescient EfficientDynamics idea ended up being made into the BMW i8 sportscar.
So we would even see this Idea 1 present up on the street sooner or later. However, even when we don’t, at the very least it reveals that Lotus is again to interested by smaller automobiles (as they need to have been all alongside…), and we’ll hopefully get an actual EV sportscar out of them in a couple of years.
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