Tag Archives: BEV

Lotus Builds Its Final Elise, Exige and Evora Models

Posted on by
The final Lotus Elise, a Elise Sport 240 Final Edition, is one of 35,124 built over 26 years.

Lotus built its last the last Elise, Exige and Evora sports cars today in Hethel, Norfolk, U.K. The end of production for the three sports cars comes as Lotus readies its assembly lines for the upcoming Emira, which is expected to roll off assembly lines in the spring.

“We will miss them, but a bit like Christmas, once it’s over, the excitement for the next one starts to build,” said Russell Carr, design director, Lotus Cars, in a statement. “And that’s what’s happening now at Lotus with the Evija, Emira and forthcoming Type 132. 2022 is going to be a great year as a new Lotus generation swings into action.”

End of an era

During the cars’ 26-year run, 51,738 cars were built. Combined, they represent almost half of the total production of the 73-year history of Lotus. From 1996 to 2000, the first-generation Elise and Exige sports cars were built alongside the Lotus Esprit. But the company revamped its assembly operations when the Spirit ended production. Now, the current assembly lines will be dismantled and revamped, allowing for an addition 5,000 units of capacity.

A Lotus Exige Cup 430 Final Edition, the last of 10,497 units.

The final cars will be a yellow Elise Sport 240 Final Edition, the last of 35,124 cars; a Heritage Racing Green Exige Cup 430 Final Edition, the last of 10,497; and a Dark Metallic Grey Evora GT430 Sport, the last of 6,117 built.

The Evora is the only Lotus model currently sold in the United States, with a base price of $99,150. Its supercharged Toyota 3.5-liter V-6 makes 416 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque with the 6-speed manual transmission, or 332 lb-ft with the 6-speed automatic. 

The final models of the Elise, Exige and Evora models will not be sold. They will be placed in Lotus’ heritage collection. 

“(C)ustomers have given our ‘three Es’ true cult status — usually reserved for long-out-of-production classics,” said Matt Windle, managing director, Lotus Cars. “As we say farewell to the last few cars, we look forward to the Emira and Evija.”

The 6,117th Lotus Evora is an Evora GT430 Sport.

The end of production coincides with the recent death of Hazel Chapman, wife of Lotus co-founder Colin Chapman.

What’s ahead for Lotus

The three models are being replaced by the all-new Emira, its name derived from ancient languages meaning “commander” or “leader.” The car will be Lotus’ last gasoline-powered sports car, with a design inspired by the Evija. All future models are promised to be 100% electric powered. Like previous Lotus models, the Emira will employ lightweight construction and massive horsepower, with a bonded aluminum chassis that’s strong, yet lightweight.

It will house one of two engines, the first being an AMG-tuned turbocharged 4-cylinder mated to a dual-clutch gearbox that sends 360 hp to the rear wheels. The other is a supercharged Toyota V-6 with either an automatic transmission or a 6-speed manual. The AMG engine will not be offered with a manual.

The Evija will hit 186 mph more than 3 seconds faster than the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport.

The company is also planning to release the Evija, a new hypercar and its first electric model. Punching out nearly 2,000 hp through all four wheels, it promises a 0-186 mph time of 9 seconds, making it the quickest vehicle on the road. But expect to pay $2 million for the privilege.

But that’s just the start of a line of new Lotus EVs that will include the Type 132 electric crossover, recently teased at the 2021 Gangzhou Auto Show as well as on YouTube. It’s also slated to be released in the Spring. The company is also planning to release the Type 131, the first of Lotus’s three new electric sports cars.

Group Lotus is owned by Chinese automaker Geely, which bought the British automaker in 2017, and Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate, which owns the remaining 49 percent. 

For GREAT deals on a new or used Ford check out Bowditch Ford TODAY!

BMW Does a Complete U-Turn on its EV Program

Posted on by

The production version of the i4 Concept will reach the U.S. next year. It will use a shared platform.

A week before unveiling the all-new iNext battery-electric vehicle, BMW said it will “realign” its strategy and begin developing a unique architecture solely for “electric drives,” rather than sharing the same platform for vehicles using both battery and conventional gas and diesel powertrains.

That’s a complete about face for the Bavarian marque which, in recent years, had hoped to save money and simplify manufacturing by coming up with common architectures that could roll off the same line. But it also marks a return to BMW’s original strategy when electrified models like the all-electric i3 city car and plug-in hybrid i8 sports car used unique platforms.

“The aim is to create an overall optimum with the new architecture,” CEO Oliver Zipse said during BMW’s quarterly earnings presentation on Wednesday.

(BMW preps for i4 launch, confirms plans for all-electric 5-Series and X1.)

Over the past decade, the auto industry has gone back and forth on the appropriate approach to developing electrified vehicles, pure battery-electric models, in particular. Some, like the Ford Focus Electric and the Volkswagen e-Golf, shared common platforms with the gas and diesel versions of those vehicles. Others, such as the original BMW i models, as well as the new Ford Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.3, used unique architectures.

BMW says the production iNext should get nearly 400 miles of range per charge.

Each approach had both pluses and minuses. Shared platforms result in design compromises, often limiting the amount of batteries that could be stored on a vehicle – impacting range, among other things. But development costs can be held down, while increasing the flexibility of a company’s assembly lines.

Unique platforms, most adopting a skateboard-style layout with batteries and motors mounted below the load floor, can handle larger packs, increasing range and lowering a vehicle’s center of gravity. But that means additional development costs and the tooling up of plants dedicated solely to EVs.

With an upcoming wave of new products BMW had aimed for a compromise strategy. They use flexible platforms that can squeeze more batteries under the load floor for models like the all-electric i4 fastback due out next year. But there’s space for a conventional internal combustion engine for products such as the next BMW 4-Series.

Now, , “We will realign our vehicle architecture from the middle of the decade,” said Zipse, adding that, “Our new cluster architecture is geared towards electric drives” exclusively.

BMW’s i3 is one of the automaker’s best-selling electric vehicles. It uses a unique, rather than shared, platform.

“Our new plant in Hungary plays a key role here,” said the CEO, noting that production of “the new BEV-centered architecture will start there.”

(BMW and Mercedes suspend joint autonomous vehicle development program.)

The plan is to make the new strategy a high priority, an all-new product development operation reporting directly to Zipse. But it will be able to reach out to all other areas within the company, from engineering to sales and marketing which “gives us more control and makes us much faster,” he explained.

The shared platform strategy had come under intense scrutiny within BMW, noted German magazine Automobilwoche, Over the summer, Manfred Wochs, the head of the BMW Works Council, had warned that it resulted in “too many compromises” that could set BMW back competitively, especially in key markets like the U.S. and China.

BMW is racing to get a leg up in an emerging market segment that currently is dominated by the upstart Tesla – with an assortment of traditional competitors, as well as start-ups like Lucid, Fisker and Rivian, aiming to gain share.

But Zipse insisted that BMW will be ready when its new EVs hit market around 2025. “We anticipate that the demand for fully electric vehicles will continue to increase significantly from 2025 onwards. Exactly then – keyword timing – we will ignite phase III of our transformation.”

(BMW may go for a plug-in hybrid with upcoming X8 M.)

html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container { background: #fff; border: 3px solid #91a6bf; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; max-width: 100%; margin: 10px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; padding: 20px 30px; color: #555; -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-miniText { font-size: 1em; line-height: 28px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #54C3A5; font-weight: bold; display:none; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-heading { font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-caption { margin-top: 12px; font-style: italic; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container .columbine-form { overflow: hidden; margin-top: 20px; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col1 { float: left; width: 33.333%; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col2 { float: left; width: 33.333%; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col3 { float: left; width: 33.333%; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-two-col1 { float: left; width: 66.333%; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-two-col2 { float: right; width: 33.333%; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container input.columbine-input, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container input.mo-optin-form-custom-field.text-field, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container textarea.mo-optin-form-custom-field.textarea-field { background-color: #ffffff; width: 100%; display: block; -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-appearance: none; -webkit-border-radius: 0; -moz-border-radius: 0; border-radius: 0; padding: 11px 17px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; border: 1px solid #ccc; color: #555; outline: none; margin: 0; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container input.columbine-submit, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container input[type=”submit”].mo-optin-form-cta-button { display: block; -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-appearance: none; border: 0; background: #54C3A5; padding: 13px 18px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; color: #fff; outline: none; cursor: pointer; font-weight: 600; width: 100%; margin: 0; border-radius: 0; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-note { margin-top: 10px; line-height: normal; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.mo-optin-error { display: none; background: #FF0000; color: white; text-align: center; padding: .2em; margin: 0; width: 100%; font-size: 16px; -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; border: 1px solid #FF0000; } @media only screen and (max-width: 650px) { html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.mo-optin-error { margin-bottom: -10px; } html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-two-col1, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-two-col2, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col1, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col2, html div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col3 { float: none; width: 100%; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 10px; } } html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-column, html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-two-col1, html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-two-col2, html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col1, html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col2, html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-three-col3 { float: none; width: 100%; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 10px; } html div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-optin-has-custom-field div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost.columbine-container div.columbine-column textarea.mo-optin-form-custom-field.textarea-field { min-height: 80px; }div#gJSomKNtPm *, div#gJSomKNtPm *:before, div#gJSomKNtPm *:after {box-sizing: border-box;-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;-moz-box-sizing: border-box;}div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost_container div.mo-optin-powered-by{margin:5px auto 2px;text-align:center;}div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost_container div.mo-optin-powered-by a {font-size:16px !important; text-decoration: none !important;box-shadow:none !important;border-bottom-width:0px !important;cursor:pointer !important;}div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost_container #mo-acceptance-checkbox {background-color: #fff;line-height: 0;border: 1px solid #bbb;width: 16px;min-width: 16px;height: 16px;margin: 0 5px 0 0 !important;outline: 0;text-align: center;vertical-align: middle;clear: none;cursor: pointer;}div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost_container .mo-acceptance-label {cursor:pointer}div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost_container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p {padding:0px !important;margin:0px !important}div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-wrapper label {color:inherit;font-weight: normal;margin: 0;padding:0;}div#gJSomKNtPm.mo-cta-button-flag .mo-optin-form-note .mo-acceptance-label {display:none;}div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container iframe, div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container object, div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container embed, div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container video { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }#gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-spinner { border-radius: inherit; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; background: #fff url(https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/wp-content/plugins/mailoptin/src/core/src/assets/images/spinner.gif) 50% 50% no-repeat; left: 0; top: 0; opacity: 0.99; filter: alpha(opacity=80); } #gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-success-close { font-size: 32px !important; font-family: “HelveticaNeue – Light”, “Helvetica Neue Light”, “Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, “Lucida Grande”, sans-serif !important; color: #282828 !important; font-weight: 300 !important; position: absolute !important; top: 0 !important; right: 10px !important; background: none !important; text-decoration: none !important; width: auto !important; height: auto !important; display: block !important; line-height: 32px !important; padding: 0 !important; -moz-box-shadow: none !important; -webkit-box-shadow: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; } #gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-form-wrapper .mo-optin-success-msg { font-size: 21px; font-family: “HelveticaNeue – Light”, “Helvetica Neue Light”, “Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, “Lucida Grande”, sans-serif; color: #282828 !important; font-weight: 300; text-align: center; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; position: absolute !important; left: 50%; top: 50%; -webkit-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -moz-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -o-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -ms-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); transform: translate(-50%, -50%); } #gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-form-wrapper .mo-optin-success-msg a { color: #0000EE; text-decoration: underline; }div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container h2, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container h1 { font-size: 32px !important; }div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p { font-size: 18px !important; }div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note { font-size: 14px !important; }@media screen and (max-width: 768px) { div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h2, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h1 { font-size: 30px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p { font-size: 18px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note { font-size: 14px !important; } }@media screen and (max-width: 480px) { div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h2, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h1 { font-size: 25px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p { font-size: 16px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note, div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note * { font-size: 12px !important; } }div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-container { margin: 0 10px 2px; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-label { font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 0 2px; } div#gJSomKNtPm input.mo-mailchimp-interest-choice { line-height: normal; border: 0; margin: 0 5px; } div#gJSomKNtPm span.mo-mailchimp-choice-label { vertical-align: middle; font-size: 14px; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-choice-container { margin: 5px 0; }div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-label { display:inline-block!important; } div#gJSomKNtPm span.mo-mailchimp-choice-label { vertical-align:baseline!important; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-container { padding:18px 0 6px 0; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-choice-label { font-size:16px!important; }