Care for an Esprit hybrid?

[Chris Mackey]

REPORT: Lotus delays new Esprit to go hybrid - Autoblog

[kestrel74]

THAT'S a good looking car !

[codymac]

I think this is a misunderstanding.

In the most recent Evo, Mike Kimberley said that there would be a hybrid Evora and that, IIRC, the Esprit's powerplant was largely sorted and waiting for the car to be completed.

He was also enthusiastic that sales were up 1% (don't recall the period) while everyone watched theirs plummet.

[Simba]

In a word: No.

[carbuff]

Roger Becker said at last year's LOG (privately) that the powerplants being considered for the Esprit might get the company in emissions "trouble" with EU regulations.

Perhaps a hybrid is a way to overcome that?

[Shades]

I thought that all the new engines with the emissions equipment on them pass all right.......... Then again, if they are trying to get the HP with Normal Aspiration, rather than turbo, that is a lot tougher, as you never need to get on the turbos during the emissions testing (at least here in California) but you all just "know" that judging by the exhaust when you are on full boost, that the chances of passing any kind of emissions test go right out the window

Paul Wendling
94 S4
85 TE

[Simba]

I seriously doubt the "simplify and add lightness" Lotus people are going to complicate and add a thousand pounds of batteries.

If they do, they'll have lost at least one sale.

[def]

My civic hybrid weighs 27xx LBS, so it can't be THAT bad since the regular civic is somewhere around there

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by Shades

I thought that all the new engines with the emissions equipment on them pass all right..........

Paul Wendling
94 S4
85 TE

Its not exactly a matter of "traditional" emissions...I believe it had something to do with the amount of CO2 (carbon) allowed by the EU.

Lotus was considering either the twin-turbo 4.4L V8 (think BMW X6) or a V-10 (think M5) for the new Esprit. The planned chassis would (could) accommodate either. But Roger said that these new EU regulations would make it difficult for Lotus to comply as a manufacturer, so the engine choices were being reconsidered.

Led me to think that 1. BIG engines were being legislated against and 2. even a handful of big CO2 emitters could bring Lotus down out of fleet compliance.

But hey, remember that as a source of information, I spent WAY too much time in the hotel bar...

[eurosport]

Originally Posted by carbuff

Lotus was considering either the twin-turbo 4.4L V8 (think BMW X6) or a V-10 (think M5) for the new Esprit.

Hmmmm....and looks like the next X6 will be a hybrid, maybe Lotus is already playing with it

[abhik.light]

Hey! Its a good looking car.

[wallabyguy]

The advantages to the Hybrid for performance cars are that they provide 100% of the available power from the start. Therefore the car can accelerate at first using the electric and then switch over to the gas engine without a concern of reaching max. power in the torque band.

I may be reaching but yesterday's report regarding the Jaguar XE got me thinking that there might be a connection between that car and the next Esprit. The cars will be too similar and there were rumors as recently as a couple of months ago that Lotus may be considering the AJ Gen III engines.

Is the Jaguar XE the sister of the next MSC

[Simba]

Originally Posted by wallabyguy

The advantages to the Hybrid for performance cars are that they provide 100% of the available power from the start. Therefore the car can accelerate at first using the electric and then switch over to the gas engine without a concern of reaching max. power in the torque band.

Personally, I'd rather have a ~2500 pound Esprit with ~500 hp and ~400 pounds of torque, and have to wait a few seconds for it, than a ~3500+ pound Esprit with instatorque and a pile of needless complexity.

Building gimmick cars to appease the idiots du jour is not what Lotus is supposed to be about. If I want a land boat full of electronics and random crap, I'll buy a current BMW.