lotus – Pulpaddict

Introducing the awesome Lotus Eletre

Lotus has unveiled the “world’s first electric hyper-SUV” in front of several hundred VIP guests at BBC Television Centre at White City, London.

The 60-minute launch show, which featured former F1 world champion and Lotus customer Jenson Button, was also live-streamed across the globe.

Naturally, we were there to see the all-new Eletre, which “takes the core principles and Lotus DNA from more than 70 years of sports car design and engineering, evolving them into a desirable all-new lifestyle car for the next generation of Lotus customers”.

The event, staged inside and outside the iconic venue, included aerial ballet and parade of Lotus cars – old and new – including an Eleven, Eclat, Esprit, Elan 2, Excel and Elite, plus the ‘John Player Special’ Lotus 72, which won three F1 world constructor’s titles and no less than 20 races between 1970-75.

The collection was brouight right up to date with the the Lotus Evija (“the world’s first all-electric British hypercar”) and then Emira (“the most accomplished Lotus road car ever to come out of the Hethel factory gates”).

Jenson Button drove the Eletre on stage for the big reveal. It’s a car that delivers a significant number of firsts for Lotus – the first five-door production car, the first model outside sports car segments, the first lifestyle EV and the most ‘connected’ Lotus ever.

And yet, Lotus claims it “remains a true Lotus, a beautiful car ‘carved by air’, packed with pioneering technology, genuine sporting performance and simplicity of purpose”.

The Eletre is the first of three new Lotus lifestyle EVs over the next four years and it’s expect to coast around £100,000.

Lotus claims the 4×4 has a 600hp power output and a range of up to 373 miles, while a rapid 350kW charger can deliver 248 miles in just 20 minutes.

It also joins the exclusive ‘The Two-Second Club’ – capable of 0-62mph in less than three seconds.

“The Eletre is a hugely significant moment in our ongoing transformation of Lotus; we are delivering on our commitment to move the business and brand into completely new segments to widen our global appeal and accessibility,” said Matt Windle, Managing Director, Lotus Cars.

Did you know? Eletre is pronounced ‘El-etra’ and means ‘Coming to Life’ in some Eastern European languages.

Manufacturing at all-new hi-tech facility in China to start later this year.

Lotus Cars has been majority owned (51%) by Chinese firm Zhejiang Geely Holding Group since 2017, with Malaysia’s Etika Automotive taking the remaining 49% share of the company. Geely also owns Volvo, Polestar and the London Electric Vehicle Company which makes taxi cabs.

End of an era at Lotus

Production of the Lotus Elise, Exige and Evora sports cars has ended in readiness for the ramping up production of the all-new Emira – the brand’s last petrol-powered car.

Between these three model lines and over the course of 26 years, a total of 51,738 cars will have come off the production line at Hethel in Norfolk.

Combined, they represent almost half of the total production of Lotus in its 73-year history.

In addition, 9,715 sports cars were built on the assembly lines for Lotus’s third-party clients, including GM and Tesla.

From 1996 to 2000, the first-generation Elise and Exige sports cars were built in a small assembly hall at Hethel alongside the Lotus Esprit.

The current assembly lines, which were installed in 2000, will be dismantled and replaced with all-new state-of-the-art facilities in support of the all-new Emira factory.

Full Emira production begins in the spring, after the prototype and test phases currently underway are completed, taking Lotus sports car production into an exciting, high-tech and semi-automated era, and increasing capacity up to 5,000 cars per year on a single shift pattern.

The last examples of the Elise, Exige and Evora models are reserved for Lotus’ growing heritage collection.

Joining the collection will be the last Elise, a Sport 240 Final Edition finished in Yellow and the last of 35,124 cars; the last Exige, a Cup 430 Final Edition in Heritage Racing Green – number 10,497; and the last Evora – a GT430 Sport finished in Dark Metallic Grey – the last of a production run of 6,117.

The Elise and Exige sports cars are built around the Lotus ‘small car platform’. On the same platform, and also manufactured by Lotus at Hethel were the Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220 (7,200 cars built between 2000 and 2005) and the Tesla Roadster (2,515 cars built between 2007 and 2012).

When the Lotus 340R, Europa, 2-Eleven and 3-Eleven cars are included, this brings the total Lotus small car platform production volumes to 56,618 cars.

Next out of the Lotus stable will be the Evija electric hypercar, followed by Lotus’s first SUV, which will be revealed to the world in the spring.

DENDROBIUM D-1 E-HYPERCAR: PLUG & PLAY @ 200-PLUS MPH!

The Dendrobium D-1 e-hypercar is confirmed for development and production in UK and debut presentation at Salon Privé.

After the highly successful international introduction at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2017 and subsequent presentations throughout Europe and the Far East, the Dendrobium D-1 electric hypercar has taken its next steps towards production with an all-new company, Dendrobium Automotive Limited, now established in the UK. The Dendrobium D-1 will be officially presented in public for the first time in the UK at Salon Privé, which takes place in the grounds of the Blenheim Palace from August 30^th – September 1^st.

The Dendrobium D-1 was originally a basic electric hypercar design concept, created in the mid-1990s, by Vanda Electrics, a Singaporean product design company. In 2016 the sketched designs were presented to UK engineering and Formula 1 company, Williams Advanced Engineering with a brief for them to create a working show car integrating many features of the car which would appear on the production version to be presented at Geneva. A uniquely qualified management team has now been recruited to take the Dendrobium D-1 into its next phase of development.

Nigel Gordon-Stewart is Chairman and CEO of Dendrobium Automotive Limited. Gordon-Stewart has been working in the premium and supercar markets since 1989. He is best known for the sales and marketing of the McLaren F1 and subsequently as Sales & Marketing Director of Automobili Lamborghini SpA reintroducing the Super Veloce brand with the Diablo SV and SVR. He was later an Associate Director to the Board at Group Lotus Plc among other senior roles.

“Dendrobium Automotive is one of the most exciting businesses I’ve ever been involved with.” commented Gordon-Stewart. “Using the very latest technology, we are developing, what will be, the most impressive all-electric hypercar. We are designing our own in-house all-electric powertrain and we plan to use our own power storage cells moving to Solid State as and when the technology is reliable and financially viable. We are developing unique cabling and connector systems as well as our own complete vehicle integration and ADAS hardware and software. From a technical perspective, the D-1 will be a British engineering tour-de-force.”

The specification targets of the D-1 are as impressive as you’d expect from a hypercar in this sector: 1,800 horsepower; 2,000 NM and a target weight of 1,750 kgs yet it must represent the true feel of a supercar, not big and heavy. Performance will be very impressive and as linear as possible in its delivery, re-writing the rules for the experience of hypercar ownership. “The car is all carbon fibre, advanced composites and alloys which are superlight and super strong,” stated Jens Sverdrup, Member of the Board of Dendrobium Automotive Limited. Sverdrup has a highly successful background in the supercar industry having worked with Lamborghini, Ferrari and Pagani but is best known for establishing the Koenigsegg brand on the map to the extent that it’s now one of the most desirable and highly valued brands in the supercar sector. Recently he’s been responsible for raising Rimac Automobili’s profile globally.

“The construction of the D-1 is based on a unique Protocell carbon tub which possesses future adaptability for further generations of Dendrobium e-performance cars. Apart from advanced vehicle technology, the D-1 has enormous drama and presence thanks to our unique Bio-Aerial Locomotion door and roof opening system, which was inspired by the Dendrobium name. A lot more details will be revealed over the coming months, not the least of which will be the D-1’s impressive range and rapid charge time. You can be assured that the Dendrobium brand will become synonymous with the most exciting and technically sophisticated e-hypercars on the market and available globally.”

“Although all the Dendrobium team has automotive blood running in their veins, we are essentially a technology company developing ultra-performance EV and PHEV cars, systems and components,” continued Gordon-Stewart. “Our Advisory Board is chaired by Michael Kimberley who created Lotus Engineering back in 1978 with Colin Chapman which has provided engineering consultancy and technology services throughout the automotive industry with clients from Toyota to Aston Martin.”

For more information and the latest news from Dendrobium, please visit https://dendrobium.com/about-us/

Check out https://www.salonpriveconcours.com/ for details of events at Salon Privé.

The post DENDROBIUM D-1 E-HYPERCAR: PLUG & PLAY @ 200-PLUS MPH! appeared first on Car Guy Chronicles.

Continue reading DENDROBIUM D-1 E-HYPERCAR: PLUG & PLAY @ 200-PLUS MPH!