subject: The Unbelievable Lightness of Lotus [print this page] The Unbelievable Lightness of Lotus The Unbelievable Lightness of Lotus
Lotus has been awarded a $2 million grant by the California Air Resources Board to conduct a study into future lightweight vehicles. The UK based automotive firm will be testing the prototype of a vehicle from a previous study, analysing its structural design to see if it meets the safety requirements for vehicles sold in the US.
The prototype was capable of being built in volumes of 50,000 units a year. The mass was cut by 38%, and the fuel consumption by 23%, while the cost only rose 3%. Many lightweight cars are constructed from carbon fibre, whereas the Lotus-designed vehicle was built mainly from aluminium, magnesium and high-strength steels.
The automotive industry is becoming increasingly aware of the necessity of lightweight vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. There are other benefits of a lighter body though, including better performance, greater agility and more precise cornering. The lighter the car is, the less power it needs to achieve the same performance as a heavier car.
Since the earliest days of Lotus, founder Colin Chapman lived by the philosophy of "Simplicate and add lightness." Lotus have developed some of the finest lightweight sports cars of all time, including the Elan and the Esprit from Lotus' past line up, and the Elise and Evora from the current one. Aside from planning to clean up California's notoriously high air pollution, Lotus' ultimate goal is to incorporate the knowledge it gains into the next generation of Lotuses and sell it to other car manufacturers.
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