Hybrid Lotus on the way?
Click above for high-res gallery of the Lotus Evora
Lotus reportedly has something interesting up its corporate sleeves for an upcoming sports car project. Although nothing official has been announced, some media outlets are predicting that Lotus will offer a hybrid drivetrain on its next vehicle. The words of Lotus' head man Mike Kimberley support this notion when he says that the automaker wants to offer "guilt-free, high performance motoring." Like the recently released Evora, the upcoming sports car, which could be an Esprit revival, will likely use a Toyota-sourced V6 engine. In that case, it wouldn't be a stretch to consider that Lotus would also get Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive technology as well.
Considering the fact that Lotus is already hard at work on fuel-saving technology, if this rumor turns out to be true, it would fit right into the British company's new green image. Remember too that Lotus supplies much of the Tesla Roadster's underpinnings, so the marque surely has gained some EV knowledge along the way.
[Source: Autocar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pkuhl 3:30PM (7/30/2008)
As much as I love the Tesla Roadster, which is alot, which is based on the Elise, I like this design better. Maybe they can adjust their design some to match this. For example, the better hard-top merging in the back and the better side panels.
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