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Look out Fisker and Tesla! Lotus to jump into EV game!

Filed under: Geneva Motor Show, Green, Lotus

Lotus is looking to challenge one of clients by building an electric sports car of its own. CEO Michael Kimberly told the Financial Times that the sports car maker and engineering powerhouse will soon launch extended-range battery-powered vehicle. The high performance model could appear as a concept as soon as the Geneva Motor Show in March, and like the Chevy Volt and Fisker Karma, Lotus will use an internal combustion engine to supplement the range of a battery which will provide primary propulsion.

Kimberly hasn't indicated what kind of vehicle layout would be used, but the new Evora sports car would seem a likely candidate with a battery taking the space of the small +2 rear seats. Another possibility could be a revival of the APX crossover concept from a couple of years back. California's Zap had hoped to use that platform for the basis of its own Zap-X, but nothing has been heard about that project for some time.

The other unknown is what, if any impact, this might have on Lotus' relationship with Tesla Motors. Lotus helped Tesla develop its Roadster and builds the rolling chassis for it. It's possible that Tesla could end up supplying motors or other powertrain bits to Lotus to help offset some of the cost of paying Lotus for its work.

[Source: Financial Times]

Look out Fisker and Tesla! Lotus to jump into EV game! originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Designer of the Century’s 5 Most Beautiful Cars

Giorgetto Giugiaro is a very important person; probably the most important person that no one’s ever heard of. He’s the car designer of the century, and he’s responsible for some of the most beautiful and influential vehicles of all time.

Here are his 5 most beautiful creations:

1. The Iso Grifo – 1963

There were actually two body styles for the early Iso Grifo, the A3/L (the one pictured above) and the A3/C, and they were both designed by Giugiaro when he was only 25 years old. The A3/C was the sleek competition version that looked almost like a lighter Ford GT40, and the A3/L was the more aggressive street version, with the mean brow and front end that inspired the American muscle cars later on in the decade.

2. Fiat 850 Spyder - 1965

A tiny little car with a tiny little engine. Grossly underpowered compared to the other 4 cars on the list, but still important because of the straight, clean lines and really simple elegance of the car.

Where do you think the Mazda Miata’s styling comes from?

3. DeTomaso Mangusta - 1966

The Mangusta was slightly more accessible than the Vallelunga before it and better quality than the Pantera after it. It’s DeTomaso’s coolest car, and one of my favorite cars of all time. It looks like it’s going to take off and attack an impala and go eat it in a tree or something. It’s a monster car.

4. Maserati Ghibli - 1966

Anything Giugiaro did for Maserati was solid gold, but the Ghibli was the best. This car was the European version of the C4 Corvette, nearly 20 years before that Corvette was designed. Again, Giugiaro was ahead of his time with a beautiful, really clean body style. It looks fast just sitting there.

5. Lotus Esprit - 1972

This is the big one. Giugiaro designed the concept for the Lotus Esprit in 1972 and it went into production in 1976. The Lotus Esprit wasn’t just another angular sports car, this was the first angular sports car. Nothing looked like this before 1976, and everything looks like it after. Any sports car built today, you can still see the influence of the Lotus Esprit. The Ferrari Testarossa, the Lamborghini Countach, the Diablo, basically all modern Lamborghini’s, and just about all of those modern high level sports cars can trace their design linage to the 1976 Lotus Esprit, and so, to Giorgetto Giugiaro.

LA 2008: Lotus Evora makes it to the States

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Sports/GTs, Lotus

Click above for high-res image gallery of the Lotus Evora live

The "mostly" U.S. version of the "midsize" Lotus Evora was shown today at the LA Auto Show and it looks exactly like the one that debuted at the 2008 British Motor Show back in June. It's just missing its side marker lights. The Evora follows the '70s Lamborghini Urraco, Maserati Merak, Ferrari 308GT4 and its follow-up the Ferrari Mondial in being a mid-engine 2+2 sports car. It's arguably the best looking of that quintet, though.

Two adult American males fit up front and there's still room in back for a couple of kids, while power comes from a Toyota-sourced 3.5L V6 producing 276 hp. With a curb weight of just 2,976 lbs., that should be plenty to scoot this puppy along. Expect 0-60 in 5 seconds, a top speed of 160+ and 30 mpg.

As cool as all of that is, the interior is what will blow you away, especially if you've ever served time in an Elise or Exige. There's leather all around, a proper nav system, an advanced touch-screen multi-media system and, get this, actual human beings can get in and out of it without requiring ridiculous flexibility. The Evora will be built on a new assembly line in Hethel at the rate of 2,000 annually for worldwide consumption. To Lotus's credit, they designed it from the get-go to meet safety and emissions requirements around the world so all they have to do is put the steering wheel on the proper side.

Talk of a supercharged S model and an even larger Esprit-successor is likely true. And Lotus executives have confirmed that a convertible variant with a power-retractable roof is in the works. Production of the standard Evora will begin in October of 2009, with sales in the U.S. beginning in late November or early December. Six-speed manual-equipped models will be available in the beginning, with an automatic (with paddle shifters) coming to market in April of 2010. But for now, we're happy with just the Evora. Twice as stiff as an Elise and a little extra room for passengers and cargo sounds just about perfect. One additional note: Although this upsized Elise went by the codename Eagle during development, there's apparently no truth to the rumors that the upcoming convertible version will be called the Bald Eagle.

Gallery: LA 2008: Lotus Evora