Lotus Elise 2008 News

Toyota has bought a significant stake in Tesla, which plans to add a prestige family sedan soon to its Lotus Elise-based Roadster, in a deal which will also revive a dormant factory in the USA. The NUMMI factory in Fremont, California - its name stands for New United Motor Manufacturing, Incorporated - was originally set us as a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. But, just like the shotgun marriage between Toyota and Holden in the 1980s in Australia, the deal fell apart and production at the factory ended this year. Now Toyota plans to assist Tesla to establish a giant new manufacturing operation at the NUMMI site as it taps into the American start-up company's expertise in electric-car technology.  It has bought a stake in Tesla costing more than $59 million and Toyota chief Akio Toyoda is bullish about the potential in the deal. "I’ve felt an infinite possibility about Tesla’s technology. Through this partnership, by working together with a venture business such as Tesla, Toyota would like to learn from the challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility that Tesla has," Toyoda says. "Decades ago, Toyota was also born as a venture business. By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that ‘venture business spirit,’ and take on the challenges of the future." Tesla will build its upcoming Model S, although it is unlikely to approach the 500,000 cars-a-year production capacity at the factory.  The Model S was unveiled last year and has a target price in the USA of $49,900, a figure helped considerably by a government tax break, as well as a claimed range of 500 kilometres between re-charges. "The Tesla factory effectively leverages an ideal combination of hardcore Silicon Valley engineering talent, traditional automotive engineering talent and the proven Toyota production system," said Tesla CEO, Elon Musk.  "The new Tesla Factory will give us plenty of room to grow."  But Tesla is still in its infancy and has delivered less than 1000 of its Elise-based electric Roadster sports cars to date.

Lotus is a car brand known for its innovation, particularly in its philosophy of “performance through light weight” but now it is turning to renewable materials of hemp, wool and sisal as part of its enviro moves.British-based Group Lotus has developed a show car called the Eco Elise to demonstrate green technology. This includes using materials that can be grown and, when cropped for use, regrown.If you thought the little Elise two-door sports car was light — it is — then consider that this version has taken 32kg off that weight.This means less fuel being used and therefore fewer emissions when driving. But Lotus says a green car is more than just C02 emissions from the exhaust pipe: it's about less environmental impact when making the car, choosing its materials and being able to recycle materials at the end of the car's life.Last year Lotus achieved significant improvements in its business practices, compared with 2006. It cut energy use — electricity by 14 per cent and gas by 30 per cent — and used 11 per cent less water across its headquarters at Hethell, Norfolk.Hemp technical fabrics areused as the primary constituent in composite body panels and spoiler. It is said to be a very strong fibre (historically, hemp was used in making rope).Hemp is a natural resource that needs fairly low levels of energy to process and it absorbs CO2 while growing as a plant through photosynthesis.The Eco Elise seats are upholstered in biodegradeable woollen fabric “ethically produced” and needing no dye. The colour is created by selecting sheep breeds to produce the wool for the yarn.Sisal is another renewable crop, here used for the Eco Elise carpets because it is a tough, abrasion-resistant material.The hemp hard top on the Eco Elise has two flexible solar panels embedded. These convert energy from the sun to power electrical systems, so the car's engine needs to work less to provide such electrical power.Lotus says using the technology on more panels would make it possible to provide more electrical power, especially on a larger vehicle.Lotus Elise cars have a red light to advise performance drivers that maximum engine revs are approaching and it's time to quickly shift up a gear. The Eco Elise also gets a green light in the instrument panel — to suggest that a higher gear can be selected to save fuel and reduce emissions.The Lotus Paint Facility in partnership with Du Pont has developed a water-based paint system, catering for primer, colour and lacquer. It's said to be the first time it's possible to hand spray a top-quality production paint finish with water base. It has benefits of giving off less solvents and uses less energy due to the lower temperature for curing. It's anticipated such paint technology will be available for production cars soon.Other than lighter weight components — even the audio system is revised to shed 1.3kg — special lightweight wheels have been created. Each saves nearly 4kg over the usual Elise wheel.Lotus sells normal Elise sports cars here from $69,990 for the S with its 1.8-litre engine of 100kW power.

The Proton-owned company will officially unveil and name the mid-engined 2+2 coupe — the first all-new car from Lotus since the Elise in 1995 – at the British Motorshow on July 22.The car will be powered by a Toyota 3.5-litre V6 with dual VVT-i (‘intelligent’variable valve timing) developing 206kW, sitting on a lightweight chassis Lotus says aimed at ensuring “visceral all-round dynamic performance”.Lotus ride and handling engineers claim that it is faster around the Nürburgring than the Elise and more stable at speed than the Exige.The prototype is said to have a maximum speed of 257km/h and to hit 100km/h in less than five seconds.The Project Eagle production car will be also be available as a two-seater, with the rear seat of the 2+2 given over to luggage space. Lotus says other versions are being planned, including a convertible and hi-po version.The car’s interior features leather upholstery, and high-tech flush-mounted controls with glowing blue LED haloes.Just 2000 cars will be built per year, with deliveries starting in 2009.Penned in-house by Lotus Design boss Russell Carr, Project Eagle is the first of three new models on the Lotus drawing board, aimed at revitalising the company.In the press blurb, Carr points to the dramatically sculpted lines of the car, cab-forward proportion, muscled haunches and gaping air intakes as cues that highlight its “serious” sportscar intent.The fit-out includes sport seats, flat-bottomed steering wheel and touchscreen multimedia system with a removable hard-drive for the satnav function. The Alpine audio set-up sound enhancement technology to cancel acoustic imbalances caused by different areas of the cabin.Lotus swears the boot will take a set of golf clubs, and both back seats feature child seat mounting points to strap the kiddies in tight while you’re exploring the handling boundaries. 

The price premium is good value considering the power gain.Elise SC has a compact supercharger in a special, one-piece casting of the intake manifold to the 1.8-litre variable-valve, four-cylinder engine.It lacks an intercooler, saving weight compared with the supercharged version of its stablemate, the Exige.Lotus says the new Elise SC has been engineered as a fast road car and so gets a progressive throttle response. The variable camshaft does not switch in at a single point but rather comes into effect between 4000rpm and 6200rpm, depending on how the car is driven.The 162kW of power and, at 5000rpm, the 212Nm of torque are each about 15 per cent more than the Elise R. In deeper contrast, it's 62 per cent more power than the Elise S, yet at 870kg is just 10kg heavier.That translates to a 0-100km/h time of 4.6 seconds, so watch out six-litre V8 HSV drivers. But the real talents of the Lotus are in cornering and braking.The SC version has slightly wider rear wheels with 225/45 tyres. Its 17in diameter alloys have a unique design helping Lotus spotters pick it from other Elises, while its rear wing is another identification aid.It has AP Racing calipers at the front and Brembo calipers at the rear on 282mm ventilated discs - more than enough braking for such a light car.Instrumentation includes lights warning to change up a gear as the engine approaches its redline.The Elise S sells for $69,990, Elise R $94,990 and the new Elise SC $104,990.A touring pack costs $8000, a sports pack $7000 and options include removable hardtop and traction control. 

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