2010 Lotus Evora Leather on 2040-cars

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Lotus Emeya 'hyper-GT' teased before September 7 debut

The Lotus Type 130 became the battery-electric, 1,972-horsepower Evija coupe. After an ICE diversion for the Type 131 to become the Emira, the Type 132 became the battery-electric Eletre "hyper-SUV." The Type 133 four-door is nearly upon us, and we now know its name will be the Emeya. This corrects the error of thinking the sedan will be called the Envya, based on Lotus filing to trademark that name. A brief Emeya teaser for the "hyper-GT" before a debut September 7 announces a challenger to EVs like the Porsche Taycan, spicier variants of the Lucid Air, the Tesla Model S Plaid, and less obviously, the Polestar 5 from the also-Geely-owned sibling brand.  Naturally, the teaser offers just a small taste of what's ahead. We see a quartet of thin, hockey-stick LED headlights, finally exposed after Lotus hid the upper lights behind camouflage on prototypes. There's a full-width LED light bar in back, underneath the active spoiler at the base of the rear window. And a brief moment 18 seconds into the video shows a large front brake caliper in yellow, painted with the automaker's name and the words "Carbon Ceramic."    The Emeya will be based on the same internal package as the Eletre. If the sedan gets two output ratings like the SUV, the template indicates baseline performance from a dual-motor powertrain of around 595 or 893 horsepower, and battery packs of either 92 kWh or 120. European range estimates for the SUV come in at 373 miles for the less powerful S trim, 304 miles for the stouter R. With the sedan having less of a battle to fight against the wind, we'd expect those spec-sheet numbers to improve. Practical use could tell a different story, engineers saying they tuned the Emeya to be a driver's car and benchmarked the Taycan. The feature list should include an 800-volt architecture and fast charging up to 350 kW, all-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering, active roll control, and the Eletre's active front intake shutters. Figured to be less than two inches longer than a Taycan, spy shots from last year showed the same minimalist driving space as the Eletre, but a dedicated four-seat interior. That extended center console could have been part of an option package, though. The SUV isn't making it to the U.S. until next year. We figure the sedan should arrive here afterward, likely for the 2025 model year. We'll know more on September 7.  Video Green Lotus Electric Future Vehicles Luxury Performance Sedan

Lotus Evora roadster to follow 400 coupe to US market

Lotus is in the midst of resurgence, and that includes a renewed assault on the US market. The new Evora 400 is coming to America, and though the new 3-Eleven won't be certified to drive on American roads, the company has confirmed that it will be offered here for use on track. But that's not all. According to Automotive News, Lotus is preparing to follow up on the aforementioned Evora 400 coupe with an additional roadster variant. Instead of a folding roof mechanism, the open-top Evora will incorporate two carbon-fiber roof panels able to stow behind the front seats. Otherwise it's expected to be mechanically identical to the coupe, with a 3.5-liter supercharged V6 packing 400 horsepower and a series of other enhancements over the preceding Evora S. Lotus was forced to withdraw the Evora – the last model it offered in the US – from the American market last year after it no longer complied with federal regulations. Bringing the new Evora 400, and its upcoming roadster variant, to the US will necessitate fitting it with a new smart airbag – something which Lotus confirmed to Autoblog it is preparing to do. According to spokesman Alastair Florance, "the Evora 400 will arrive in the market as a 17MY and will be fully compliant with FMVSS 208, including the smart air bag element." The coupe is expected to arrive here in December, with the yet-to-be-unveiled roadster to follow six months later. The news confirms what we heard earlier about the company's future plans. Those also include a new SUV being designed principally for the Chinese market, and an even more radical 4-Eleven to follow at some point in the future. Related Video:

Recap: 2013 Australian Formula One Grand Prix is all about the rubber [w/spoilers]

A pre-season full of talking points was swapped for a brand-new set of talking points after the running of the opening grand prix of the 2013 Formula One season. The consistency of the regulations from last year to this year and the triplicate dominance of Infiniti Red Bull Racing meant that no one would have been that surprised if the relative order of things remained the same. But teams found so many ways to switch things up that, in typical pre-season fashion, no one was ready to make any bets on in-season performance, and a couple of surprising players suffered the ignominy of getting it really wrong: McLaren knew it was in trouble from the very first test, while Williams drivers applauded their car as the best in years, only to have Pastor Maldonado call it "undriveable" on the very first day of practice in Melbourne.
And then there were those Pirellis, the Italian company talking up the fact that its super soft tires would only go off so quickly that it would force teams to pit at least twice during the race.
Even then, no one could have seen the first round of pit stops beginning on Lap 5.