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No made in China Lotus

August 16, 2007 at 2:19 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, International News, Lotus

small_lotus_logo.jpgSomething Lotus generally does not do is respond to individual articles in the media, but this time the British company has stepped up and responded to the recent news that Jinhua Neoplan will be assembling Lotus sports cars in China.

“The company does not normally respond to individual articles in the media, but occasionally we feel it necessary to comment directly to set the record straight about specific rumors that could affect staff morale or performance. There has been comment in the Chinese press that two Lotus sports cars will be put into production in China by the end of the year. This is not true. Staff has been briefed by [chairman] Mike Kimberley on plans for the company for the next five years. Those plans do not feature the manufacture of Lotus cars anywhere other than at Hethel. In future please treat such press comments with the scepticism (sic) they deserve,” said a Lotus representative in an email.

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Jinhua Neoplan to assemble Lotus cars in China

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Jinhua Neoplan to assemble Lotus cars in China

August 13, 2007 at 11:56 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, International News, Lotus

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Jinhua Neoplan will be assembling CKD kits of Lotus cars in China, with one of the first cars set to be the Lotus Europa.

Interesting to note that Jinhua Neoplan is part of the Jinhua Group, and it is the division that makes buses with technology from German company Neoplan with an annual production capacity of 2,000 vehicles. A bus company making Lotus sports cars.

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RM272 million ringgit to cover Lotus debts

March 27, 2007 at 4:03 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton

small_lotus_logo.jpgProton has loaned the Lotus Group £40 million, or RM272 million ringgit, to cover the Lotus Group’s third successive year of losses. This loan will be converted to equity, which actually means Proton is basically giving Lotus money in exchange for more shares. While new CEO Michael Kimberley has a 5-year plan to turn Lotus around, it is not expected to return to profitability until after 2009.

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Zap releases more details on ZAP-X

March 20, 2007 at 3:37 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus

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Remember Zap? I reported earlier in February that US electric car maker Zap was employing the services of Lotus to develop the ZAP-X for them, an all-wheel drive crossover MPV which would be fully powered by electric motors. The ZAP-X was to use Lotus Engineering’s VVA platform and be based on the Lotus APX Concept.

Zap has released sketches and 3D renderings of the ZAP-X, which reveal some details on what’s going to be in the car as well as how it will look like. Some of the basic performance stats include 644hp combined power from 4 in-wheel motors, a top speed of 250km/h and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 4.8 seconds.

A lightweight aluminium chassis combined with lightweight motors and the removal of extra weight such as driveshafts in common single engine configurations balance out the weight of the batteries needed, thus making this a relatively light vehicle. On a full charge, the ZAP-X can go 350 miles or 563km, with a rapid 10 minute recharge time.

On the interior, seating is a 5+2 configuration, much like the new BMW X5. By 5+2 instead of 7, it means the rear 2 seats are only for use when you really have to, they aren’t the most comfortable around. The interior is full of gadgets – a computer running Windows XP (it’s Vista now?), Wi-Fi, Blue-tooth, High definition video support, iPod connectivity, Firewire, USB2 and Mini USB ports. There’s also photo voltaic glass with thermoelectrics for heating and cooling, and energy collecting windows and windshields to harness solar energy.

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Spyker wants to buy Lotus

March 16, 2007 at 4:54 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus, Rumours

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Dutch car manufacturer Spyker has made a bid for Lotus, reported Dutch auto magazine AutoWeek. AutoWeek’s unnamed sources claims the Dutch company is already in talks with Proton about the possible porchase. Spyker’s owner however, refused to confirm this but commented it could be a serious option.

Sources say Spyker intends to use Lotus Engineering’s technical know-how to develop it’s upcoming Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris SUV (shown above). The odd name is to commemorate Spyker’s participation in the 1907 cross-country race of the same name. The concept model, first put on show at Geneva 2006 features full-time all-wheel-drive, four doors with rear suicide doors, a 500hp Volkswagen 6 litre W12 engine, carbon-ceramic matrix brakes and an all-aluminium construction.

Spyker follows Porsche’s footsteps – a sports car manufacturer releasing an SUV model that combines practicality with the sporty prestige of a sports car logo on it’s hood. Spyker also owns the Spyker F1 Team, previously known as Midland F1 Racing.

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Lotus Integrated Exhaust Manifold

March 14, 2007 at 2:45 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus, Technology

small_lotus_logo.jpgLotus Engineering displayed their Integrated Exhaust Manifold technology at the 2007 Geneva International Motor Show. Basically, it is an exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head. A demonstration of this was shown as a cylinder head design for a small 3-cylinder engine, which I would say would benefit much from this technology. Integrating the exhaust manifold into the cylinder head brings numerous benefits which I will outline below.

An integrated exhaust manifold reduces parts count, which reduces costs throughout the development cycle. Other areas where this will reduce costs include the inventory, assembly and aftermarket parts supply areas. Less parts, less to stock.

Through the use of a cooling jacket design, heat is retained in the engine (which is cooled via the radiator system) rather than letting it radiate into the engine bay. This improves the performance of the air conditioning system, thus reducing it’s power consumption. A cooler engine bay also means cooler air into the air intake, which boosts performance. The engine also warms up more quickly. Coolant can also cool the engine more evenly, reducing engine block stress.

Engine durability improves, as thermal stresses usually occur at points where different materials meet. In an engine with a conventional exhaust system design, an aluminium cylinder head meeting a cast iron exhaust causes thermal stress.

The integrated exhaust manifold also allows the catalytic converter to be positioned very near the exhaust output, thus reducing the amount of exhaust heat lost in travelling from the cylinder to the catalyst. This improves catalyst performance, thus reducing emissions to an ultra-low level without incurring higher costs.

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Proton and Lotus Engineering develop Proton GEN2 EVE Hybrid Concept

March 7, 2007 at 3:28 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Local News, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton

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Lotus Engineering will have this on display at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, a Proton GEN2 equipped with Lotus Engineering’s EVE Hybrid technology. EVE, which stands for Efficient, Viable, Environmental, basically pairs Proton’s 1.6 litre Campro engine with a 30 kilowatt (40 horsepower) electric motor. The hybrid petrol-electric drivetrain drives the front wheels using a continuously variable transmission (CVT) gearbox.

The hybrid system also has a start-stop system for the gasoline engine to be shut off when unneeded. The engine restarts automatically when the brake pedal is released. The electric motor is positioned between the engine and the gearbox, and supports regenerative braking to recharge its 144V battery located in the GEN2′s boot.

The Proton GEN2 EVE Hybrid Concept has significantly lower emissions than it’s pure petrol sibling, with CO2 output only 134g/km from 172g/km. Average fuel economy rose from 6 litres per 100km to 4.6 litres per 100km. The combined output of the electric motor and the Campro 1.6 litre engine is 141hp, equivalent to a 1.8 to 2.0 litre engine in modern times, giving it a 0-100km/h time of 9 seconds and a top speed of 190km/h. Torque rises from the stock 148Nm at 4,000rpm to 233Nm at 1,500rpm.

Perhaps we can see this Lotus EVE Hybrid technology being implemented in our local Proton cars soon, or perhaps we will be able to use that CVT transmission to replace the current 4-speed auto of which ratio’s do not match the Campro’s torque curve at all. A CVT would be wonderful for keeping the Campro’s revs within it’s powerband, allowing for a more comfortable and stressless drive.

More photos after the jump, as well as Lotus Engineering’s full description of the Proton GEN2 EVE Hybrid car.

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[Read more...]

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ZAP-X: Performance MPV with in-wheel motors based on Lotus APX

February 2, 2007 at 5:06 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Lotus

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Zero Air Pollution, or ZAP, is a US-based company that will be debuting a new vehicle, the ZAP-X, at the North American Dealers Association show next week. ZAP already has electric cars and trucks on sale in the US, so it is not new to the electric vehicle market. The ZAP-X will be using Lotus Engineering’s Versatile Vehicle Architecture. We saw the VVA’s potential sometime last year when Lotus showcased a vehicle called the Lotus APX or Aluminium Performance Crossover, which used the VVA chassis and was powered by a supercharged Lotus “Project NEF” 3.0 V6.

The ZAP-X will seat 7, and will most probably look alot like the APX, however instead of being powered by the V6, it will have in-wheel electric motors – four of them, and this will give about 635hp and a top speed of 250km/h. It looks like the Lotus APX did not go to waste after all. This is also not the first time Lotus has worked with electric vehicles, remember the Tesla Roadster?

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Lotus gets Jinhua Youngman engineering deal

November 26, 2006 at 8:57 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, International News, Lotus

small_lotus_logo.jpgThe feasibility study between Lotus Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Youngman Automobile Group Co Ltd (Jinhua Youngman) recently concluded with positive results, and Lotus has managed to secure the deal to assist Jinhua Youngman produce passenger cars. Jinhua Youngman started off manufacturing commercial vehicles, but recently secured a license from the Chinese government to produce passenger vehicles. Lotus will start with a 4-door saloon for Jinhua, with work scheduled to begin early 2007. Jinhua plans to have a 4 car model line-up within the next 5 years.

Do you think Jinhua will be using our existing platforms like the ones that have spawned the GEN2 and the Waja, helping Proton achieve better economies of scale? Or perhaps Jinhua will be using the flexible and advanced Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) by Lotus, which use was demonstrated to the public with the rapid development of the Lotus APX Concept. The latter sounds more likely.

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More on Lotus turnaround plan – Lotus Satria Neo?

September 23, 2006 at 7:17 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Local News, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton

small_lotus_logo.jpgWe have more details on Group Lotus’ plan to turnaround the company within the next 5 years. Previous details on the plan revealed plans to produce more of it’s own cars, re-engineer third party cars, as well as expand it’s engineering consultancy business. More details about those details at this post.

Further details reveal that the flagship Lotus Esprit will be postponed to a end 2009, making it a 2010 model. Lotus says it needs more time to “insert more Lotus DNA” to ensure global competitiveness. Rumours previously had it that Lotus was to release the Esprit next year. The new Lotus Esprit is expected to be a mid-engine, rear wheel dirve layout and could use a 4.8 litre V8 DOHC unit from BMW, making more than 400 horsepower, which would be a real rocket combined with the Lotus philosophy of performance through weight reduction.

In the meanwhile, Lotus announced it will introduce a new mid-market level model in May 2008, as well as a new 4-seater high-performance model in collaboration with Proton – are we going to see a Proton car being tuned up in the style of the Lotus Carlton? Bernama reports that this model will be based on the Proton Satria Neo. The Lotus line-up currently includes the Elise, the Exige and the Europa.

As part of it’s efforts to cut costs, Group Lotus also announced 200 job cuts in it’s manufacturing workforce. The Hethel plant workforce suffers because of the US market slowdown, which is the company’s biggest market. Rather than calling it downsizing, officials have said it is more of a “right-sizing.”

There are some rumours of Proton selling off Lotus like what it did to MV Agusta, but Proton’s MD Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir was quick to clarify that there are no such plans, not now and not in the future. He was quoted to say “We will make sure that Lotus will work. We must ensure Lotus is a success; there is no other way.”

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