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Lotus F1 confirms Grosjean, Maldonado for 2015

With the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix now just ten days away, the focus is beginning to shift to next year's Formula One World Championship, with more and more pieces to the puzzle falling into place. And the latest news comes from the Lotus team. The Enstone-based outfit has confirmed that it's keeping both its drivers right where they are for next season, with Romain Grosjean partnering Pastor Maldonado once again.
Swiss driver Grosjean, now 28 years old, made his grand prix debut with the team in 2009, returned as test driver in 2011 while winning the GP2 title, returned to the F1 grid in 2012 and has been driving for the team ever since. He's scored nine podium finishes to date, but has finished no better than his eighth place this season.
Venezuelan pilot Maldonado, 29, won the GP2 the year before his teammate, and moved up to F1 with Williams, for whom he drove for three seasons before switching to Lotus for this one. He shocked the field when he won the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012, but has only finished in the points once this season.

Lotus confirms new Emira will be its last car powered by gasoline

Lotus is four years into the 10-year Vision80 plan that it announced at its 70th anniversary in 2018, and according to Matt Windle, managing director of Lotus Cars, the brand is "on track" to completely revitalize its line of sports cars as it branches out into profitable new automotive segments. Windle also confirmed the name of Lotus' upcoming new vehicle: "The spirit and passion that gave the world the Elise, Exige and Evora will live on in the next generation of cars – cars like the all-new Lotus Emira." The British company's sports car replacement, previously known as the Type 131, will make its virtual debut on July 6 before being shown in public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that begins on July 8. Lotus confirmed that the Emira will be offered solely with internal combustion engine options and will not offer hybrid power, and that the powerplant comes from "an exciting new powertrain partnership" with options that are "new to Lotus." The company's Elise, Exige and Evora used four- and six-cylinder engines sourced from Toyota and tuned specifically for high-performance use. The Emira, which will be priced similarly to the Evora, will be the last production Lotus powered by gasoline, and it will be built atop a brand-new "Elemental" platform that relies on the brand's familiar extruded aluminum-intensive chassis. Three more platforms are currently in development, and these four architectures will provide the basis for the company's planned expansion. The next we expect to see in production is the Hypercar architecture that forms the basis of the upcoming Lotus Evija. The electric Evija and its "Extreme" platform will start rolling out of the Hethel headquarters later this year. Lotus' "Evolution" platform is next, and it will underpin "an all-new range of lifestyle vehicles" that "will catapult Lotus into a new era of higher retail volumes and significant revenues." We take that to mean SUVs. This Premium architecture was reportedly designed by Lotus in the UK with collaboration from other brands under the Geely umbrella in China and Sweden and Germany. Finally, Lotus and Alpine have consummated their recently announced partnership and will launch an "E-Sports" platform that will be "will be flexible and modular." We expect a range of electric vehicles on this architecture that could include everything from sports cars and hatchbacks to crossovers and other utility shapes.

Lotus Type 132 crossover EV teased five ways in video

Lotus has combined its series of video teasers of the Type 132 crossover into one reel. The result provides peeks at five of the features we can expect on the electric CUV when it launches next year. Under the "Breathe" section, there's the active lower grille, divvied-up hexagonal openings that twirl open or closed to provide the right combination of powertrain cooling and vehicle aerodynamics. Titled with "See," there's what looks like a sensor detection unit rising from the roof; it looks like a LIDAR unit pointed toward the rear, but it's impossible to know from the clip. In the "Stretch" section, we see an active rear spoiler moving into a higher drag configuration, connected to a fender with lines that evoke the Evija and Emira. Finally, in "Awaken," there's what looks like a giant screen canted toward the driver and towering over the instrument panel. The Type 132 will commence Lotus' EV-only series production future, the first of four models due in the next few years, and the largest. After it will come a sedan marketed as a four-door coupe known as Type 133, expected on sale in 2023, a smaller crossover called the Type 134 that will debut in 2025, and a sports car currently dubbed Type 135 that's planned for 2026 and could get an Alpine-branded sibling. The four-door models are expected to ride on Lotus' Evolution architecture for "premium" vehicles, with available dual-motor powertrains that might get up to 750 horsepower powered by batteries up to 120-kWh. The sports car will get the E-Sports platform Lotus will share with Alpine and sell to other manufacturers, the junior relative of the Extreme platform that supports the 1,973-hp Evija.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.