Archive for Lotus

Energy-efficient vehicle design specialists Oaktec have been working on Honda’s IMA hybrid system for motorsports usage since 2004 and has recently signed on Lotus Engineering to be a part of a project funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency to develop a stage rally and circuit race version of the Honda Civic Hybrid.

No specs have been released on what upgrades have been made to the Civic Hybrid to make it motorsports-worthy, but Lotus says the Civic Hybrid’s CVT transmission allows the car to be driven in full power constantly, making performance very accessible.

The motorsports Civic Hybrid developed by Oaktec and Lotus will be raced for the first time at the Dunlop Max Sport Cup at the Rockingham circuit on the 28th of September 2008 so perhaps we will learn more about the car after the race. What we know now is that the electric motor has been revised for more power and there is now an upgraded control system to allow for more aggressive brake energy regeneration.

Lotus Engineering is currently developing an engine concept called the OMNIVORE together with the Queen’s University Belfast and Jaguar Cars Ltd. The OMNIVORE research engine features a variable compression ratio, direct injection and a two-stroke operating cycle. It will run on a mix of petrol and alcohol.

Group Lotus plc CEO Mike Kimberly says alcohols possess superior combustion characteristics to gasoline, and taking full advantage of the benefits of bio alcohols will ensure a larger amount of fuel burned will comprise of renewable fuels.

More details will likely come later when an actual working concept is ready.

Electric cars or hybrid cars running on fully electric mode can pose a risk to pedestrians as there could be some people, especially those with hearing impairments or the blind, who are not aware of an approaching vehicle because they are just so silent. In fact, there was a bill in the US recently to require a minimum level of sound for vehicles sold in the US.

As an engineering consulting company and component designer/supplier, Lotus is tackling this issue with its new “Safe and Sound” Hybrid demo car. Lotus used a Toyota Prius as a demonstrator vehicle and applied its new Sound Synthesis system to it. The new technology combines Active Road Noise Cancellation, Engine Order Cancellation and Sound Synthesis.

A road speed signal is obtained from the vehicle and a waterproof speaker is positioned near the radiator to emit a realistic sound based on the throttle and speed of the car, projected towards the front of the car. The sound was designed to be instantly recognisable by the human brain, allowing it taking into account pitch and frequency and process it to enable us to identify vehicle speed and distance. The synthesized sound automatically stops if the hybrid car’s combustion engine kicks in.

The sound can be configured to sound like various types of engines. For example, you could drive a fully electric Tesla Roadster and enjoy the lovely rumbling sound of a flat-6 or a V8. Look after the jump for a video of the new technology.

Click here to read the rest of Lotus Sound Synthesis technology can give electric cars the rumble of a V8

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Proton brought in the Lotus EVE Hybrid for its Proton Technology Week this weekend, and all journalists got to see was Pak Lah driving it really slowly, parking it, turning off the engine and getting out of the car. That last part was the most important though as it meant the car was left empty for a photo session.

As a recap on what the Lotus EVE Hybrid is, you can read the linked post but here is a brief summary on what makes it a hybrid. The EVE Hybrid combines a 110hp 1.6 liter Proton Campro engine with a 30kW (40hp) electric motor. Instead of the 4-speed auto typically found in a GEN2, the EVE gets a CVT transmission.

The car is claimed to be able to only consume 4.6 liters per 100km. City driving should be a breeze with a massive 233Nm (equivalent to a 2.4 liter engine) at a low 1,500rpm thanks to the boost from the electric motor. Horsepower is up to a combined peak of 141hp, and 0 to 100km/h takes 9 seconds. The electric motor is powered by a 144V battery in the boot.

Look after the jump for more photos and a video of the EVE Hybrid.

Click here to read the rest of Lotus EVE Hybrid at the Proton Technology Week

I had expected to see a blue 200 DARPA Urban Challenge Lotus Elise covered with sensor equipment but the autonomous Lotus Elise that is on display at the Proton Technology week had a different coat of paint and less equipment. It also had its top off.

The car guides itself around with a combination of laser measurements sensors, high accuracy GPS, and radar. It actually doesn’t work as well than it should have here in Malaysia because alot of the sensor equipment had to be removed because they were classified as sensitive equipment and was not allowed to be exported out of the US.

The vehicle followed a path very slowly around a little “track” formed with cones. After awhile it stopped and seemed to require some reprogramming, which allowed us to see what lied under its bonnet at the rear. The Lotus engineers plugged in a Dell notebook and did some magic and the car was able to self-drive again soon after.

Have a look at what’s under the Elise’s hood after the jump, together with a video of the car on the cone track.

Click here to read the rest of A Lotus Elise that drives itself!

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Lotus has unveiled its highly secretive Project Eagle car, now officially christened the Lotus Evora at the 2008 British International Motor Show.

The 2+2 mid-engined sports car weighs just 1,350 kg and is powered by a Toyota 3.5 liter V6 Dual VVT-i engine with a Lotus T6e ECU putting out 280 PS at 6,400rpm and 342Nm of torque at 4,700rpm. It’s 0 to 100km/h time is measured at under 5 seconds. For those who are environmentally conscious, CO2 emissions are measured at just under 225 g/km and the car achieves more than 30 mpg on a combined cycle. This is mated to a 6-speed manual, but the ratios are tuned for a more relaxing GT-like drive. A close ratio gearbox is still under development.

Braking is via AP Racing 4-pot calipers for both front (350mm disc) and rear (332mm disc), hiding behind large 18 inch wheels at the front and 19 inch wheels at the rear wrapped with Yokohama rubber in 225/40ZR18 and 255/35ZR19 sizes respectively.

Its chassis is based on the Lotus Versatile Vehicle Architecture, which was showcased quite some time ago as the base for the Lotus APX Concept MPV. In this incarnation the VVA platform measures 2,575mm long in wheelbase, and the car itself measures 3242mm long and 1223mm tall with a track of 1565mm at the front and 1557mm at the rear. The body has a drag coefficient of 0.33 cD.

The Evora’s composite roof is used as a stressed structural member to help the vehicle achieve a chassis stiffness of 26,000 Nm per degree. The suspension uses Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs with dual path top mounts.

The Evora will be priced between £45k to a little over £50k. For those that think this is the Europa all over again, one key difference between the Evora and the Europe is probably the fact that the Evora is based on a new platform and is larger. But then again, the car is somewhat marketed at a similiar market, so only time will tell how the Evora will do. The car is actually not complete yet - there is still another 6 months of R&D to go but these photos and spec figures are pretty much what the production version will be.

Continue reading for more photos…

Click here to read the rest of Lotus Evora: official name for the Project Eagle 2+2

Group Lotus CEO Mike Kimberly calls the above car the biggest milestone that Lotus has achieved since the original Lotus Elise 13 years ago. This milestone car is currently known by its codename Project Eagle, and is a 2+2 sports car powered by a 280 PS Toyota 3.5 liter Dual VVT-i V6. 0 to 100km/h acceleration time is expected to be under 5 seconds.

No other photos have been officially offered other than the one above (though you will find leaked images after the jump), but the Lotus press release is generous with details of the interior which is said to feature a cockpit-like seating position, a flat-bottomed steering wheel, aluminium inserts, edge-lit switches and flush-mounted controls on the dashboard which glow with blue LED halos.

The standard 2+2 configuration can also be changed to a 2-seater configuration, with the rear space used for luggage. Space for the rear two seats will be enhanced by providing foot-room for the rear passengers under the front seats.

An Alpine-developed in-car entertainment and navigation system will be offered featuring a 7 inch touch screen LCD to interface with audio, removable hard drive-based satnav, Bluetooth handsfree and an optional reverse camera. The Alpine audio system will feature a technology called IMPRINT which can cancel out imbalances in the sound caused by it being reflected off different cabin surfaces such as window glass which creates echoes and carpets which suppress mid-range frequencies.

Look after the jump for more photos.

Click here to read the rest of Preview details of Lotus Project Eagle car

Lotus Engineering has won two green vehicle projects from the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board. The first project involves working as part of the Zero Emission London Taxi Commercialisation consortium to develop a fuel cell taxi system including the electric drivetrain, fuel cell engine and hydrogen storage system. The system will then be assembled into two taxis for full vehicle testing.

The other project is a collaboration with Jaguar Cars Ltd, MIRA Ltd and Caparo Vehicle Technologies called the Limo-Green project. It will use a Jaguar (probably the XJ?) as a basis to develop a large luxury hybrid sedan using an advanced electric motor combined with a small battery pack and something which Lotus calls an “Auxiliary Power Unit“, which is probably in reality a small gasoline engine.

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Lotus Engineering and Continental Division Powertrain have just posted the results of a Low CO2 research project, involving an Opel Astra equipped with a new prototype inline-3 1.5 liter pressure-charged engine.

The test engine was an inline-3 1.5 liter engine with a power output of 160 PS at 5,000rpm and torque output of 240Nm between 2,500rpm and 4,000rpm, equipped with the following specifications:

• integrated exhaust manifold
• forced induction (probably supercharging because of the IEM)
• 10.2:1 compression ratio
• centrally-mounted direct injection 200 bar injectors from Continental
• a cam profile switching system for lift and timing also found in Porsche’s Variocam Plus, apparently available off the shelf if any manufacturer wants it
• a 200 bar high pressure fuel pump
• a mild hybrid drive using a 12 kilowatt electric motor powered by energy stored in 60v supercapacitors

The result is a CO2 output of 149 g/km CO2, compared to a stock Opel Astra’s 1.8 liter normally aspirated inline-4’s 175 g/km CO2. The Low CO2 project engine produced less emissions, yet produced more power as the Opel’s engine only produced 140 PS and 175Nm of torque.

The Low CO2 project aimed to reduce CO2 emissions while maintaining an engaging driving experience from a set of off the shelf affordable technologies.

Forced induction combined with direct injection is the usual way to achieve these in modern days, but Lotus Engineering wants to demonstrate these technologies can be added to an engine with relatively economical off the shelf components. A 1.5 liter inline-3 sounds like half of a Project NEF engine, which was a supercharged 3.0 V6, so this could have also been demonstration of the modular design of the NEF.

The Malaysian Reserve reports that a local firm has approached Proton with a proposal to take over Proton’s stake in Lotus. The business daily did not mention which local firm this is - but whispers through the grapevines say this might be Naza.

Naza wants to build its own cars. It’s first attempt at it’s own car was the Naza Sutera, now known as the Naza Forza. For future models, Lotus could provide Naza with the necessary platform to build its car on - the Versatile Vehicle Architecture. Also, as successful distributors of most of the supercar brands here in Malaysia, it could also take over the marketing of Lotus sports cars in this country.

Of course, we don’t actually know for sure if it is Naza, or if there is such a thing at all, so let’s wait and see if The Malaysian Reserves is right about this.

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