It would seem we haven’t quite heard the end of Youngman Lotus – an electric version of the L3 sedan has been revealed in China by the automaker, Autohome reports. This following a large period of quiet – the Zhejiang-based outfit started out on a joint-venture deal with Proton, which ended after six years in 2012.
The surfacing of the L3 EV has thus prompted speculation on the status of the company and whether it’s back in the game. The publication doubts so, saying that despite the automaker releasing some details and photos of the car, there’s no concrete indication that it’ll translate into series production. Frankly, it could very well be a case of polishing up old lamps and being rid of them.
According to the report, the L3 EV is equipped with an electric motor offering 87 hp (65kW), though no numbers have been provided with regards to the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery capacity and operating range. Sketchy, indeed.
Exterior-wise, it looks virtually like the standard L3 in its last known configuration, save some minor bits – the rear bumper here is different to that seen on the GT back in 2012. More recently, there was a gold L3 GT seen at Auto China 2014.
The formation of Youngman-Lotus saw the production of Proton’s Gen 2 and Persona as well as Campro engines in China. The line-up included L3 hatch (Gen 2), L3 sedan (Persona), L5 (stretched Gen 2 platform) and T5 (SUV based on Gen 2 platform, not known if ever went on sale).
Proton’s involvement in the Chinese market is now through a partnership with China’s Goldstar Heavy Industrial – the automaker inked a JV agreement with the Lotus Group and Goldstar to further expand the presence of the Lotus brand in the People’s Republic of China in April this year.
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I’m siding with what the Chinese press said; This could be another one of Youngman’s many prototypes and not a production model. Apart from the T5 SUV, there’s also the T6 sedan. For the last few months, there’s been no sales report from Youngman, which has led many to believe that they’ve either quit the passenger car market or are illegally selling their cars without the knowledge of Proton or Lotus Engineering. Don’t forget, this is China after all, petty things like patents and copyrights don’t mean much, if anything.
To improve fuel economy the power windows should be removed (maybe 10 kg weight saved). And it won’t last long anyway.
Meanwhile, Proton still testing their hybrids on Mars.
Where you get all these info? From news it shows Hangzhou factory is shut down since 2014 April, a lot of stock car are rusted there. The joint-venture consists of Malaysian management team, don’t think they are stupid to let Youngman produce without copyrights.
Well, that’s not what the sales reports are telling us. Maybe they still have some old stock yet unsold. And if I’m not wrong, Youngman has more than one factory which produces passenger cars. Their last reported sales data was in February 2015, since then, they’ve been silent.
I will attach the links to the sales data below, but the links may be marked as spam. If not, you will see them directly below this comment.
2015 sales;
http://i.imgur.com/SataoIO.png
2009-2014 sales;
http://i.imgur.com/bXLvcnj.png
The Lotus L3 nameplate includes both the GEN-2 and Persona. The Lotus L5 is Youngman’s indigenously designed car, and may include the facelift L6 as well.
Nobody cares.
Apparently, you care to comment.
Once in a while this youngman will float upon for some air-changing-breath.
YOUNGman selling OLD tech OLD design car?? Kinda ironic….
please,stop using the gen2/persona design
it is so dated already
for god sake, please remove the Lotus emblem!
Will this explode when drive charging?
Using the Lotus to con the China man, what a move…
I look at this electric model YoungmanLotusL3 and I can’t stop comparing it with other marques like Toyota, Telsa. Sorry but it reminds me of a final-year student project.
This design is Gen-2 + Persona’s tailights, owh, will it burn like Gen-2 ??
Why would any Chinese (or anyone else) buy this EV? Stories that treat these kinds of vehicles as serious contenders, or even serious business models, do readers a disservice.