Increasing profits is the goal for Matt Windle, managing director of Group Lotus since January 2021. He's presiding over an explosion of new products and a well-funded future made possible by the deep pockets of Geely. The Chinese giant has pumped more than $3 billion into the plucky but chronically underfunded British sports car and racing marque. Lotus has said goodbye to standard-bearers-Elise, Exige, Evora over the past few years and next plans to fire off new products, including its first SUV, like Steph Curry on a three-point tear.
Launching as you read this, and due in America this fall, is the Emira, which the company calls its last gasoline-powered car. Coming “late in the second quarter, early third quarter,” according to Windle, is the oft-delayed Evija, a near-2000-hp electric hypercar with a price tag of more than $2 million-an edition so limited it skirts import regulations by qualifying as “show and display only.” Then, in the not-too-distant future, expect a series of more affordable electric sports cars based on the company's new aluminum-intensive platform. The so-called light electric vehicle architecture (LEVA) aims to move the goalposts from what the Elise's groundbreaking chassis did back in the 1990s. Substantially lighter-lightness being Lotus's raison d'être since its founding by Colin Chapman almost three-quarters of a century ago—the Evija's rear structure tips in with 37 percent less mass than the Emira's. LEVA will underpin a range of sports machines of different sizes, with batteries stacked vertically behind the driver or laid out horizontally, skateboard-style.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2022 من Car and Driver.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2022 من Car and Driver.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Fleeting Thoughts
Updates and hot takes on the vehicles fortunate enough to spend 40,000 miles with C/D's editors.
Swedish Bliss
The new Volvo EX90 channels the brand's characteristic approach to wellness and serenity into an electric SUV sized for the whole family.
Tick, Tick, Boom
Tesla Model 3 Performance HIGHS: Nauseatingly quick, airy cabin with great visibility, genuine value. LOWS: Off-putting user interface, inescapable clinical feeling, austere interior design.
Black Ops
The new Precision package for the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing hones one of our favorite sports sedans.
Pay to Play
Porsche Panamera HIGHS: Ample motivation, fun in every corner, surprising fuel economy. LOWS: Grip levels drop slightly, big price tag, dumb touchscreen vent controls. VERDICT: The bottom rung, but you'd never know it.
Man-o'-War
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Manthey Racing HIGHS: A clinic on proper steering response, 9000 rpm of sonic glory, more grip is good. LOWS: A mirror full of wing, upgrades useful only on track, quiet only when it's off.
Low-Pro Hero
Honda Civic Hybrid HIGHS: Fuel efficiency of a hybrid, Si-beating acceleration, as comfortable to ride in as it is engaging to drive. LOWS: No adjustable lumbar support, low-limit tires, quicker at the track than in the real world.
Back in Tune
CarBahn CB3 M4 HIGHS: A monster inline-six with an available warranty, massive grip and lateral stability, a better-looking face. LOWS: The exhaust needs an off switch, suspension links clatter, steering is still mute.
Hurricane Force
Ram 1500 HIGHS: Quicker than the old V-8 Ram, powerful and smooth turbo six, class-leading luxury. LOWS: Detectable turbo lag, slow-to-react touchscreen, hands-free mode zaps confidence.
Good Vibrations
No one has to guess what's under the hood of the Ferrari 12Cilindri.