2020 Lotus Evora Gt Navigation Black Pack Touch Screen Info System on 2040-cars

Auto blog

This 450-hp electric Lotus Evora is powered by Tesla and Chevrolet

When someone mentions an electric Lotus, the first thing that comes to mind is the Tesla Roadster, the California-based automaker's first vehicle. That car started life as an Elise before being heavily massaged and adapted by Tesla's engineers. In a similar spirit, the people at Onpoint Dyno are close to finishing Blue Lightning, a track-ready all-electric Lotus Evora. Blue Lightning uses a Tesla drive unit and a Chevrolet Volt battery pack, both mounted in the middle in place of the Evora's 3.5-liter Toyota V6. It's putting down about 450 horsepower at the wheels. The car was built for time attack sessions, so power is fed through custom forged wheels and super sticky Pirelli PZero Trofeo R tires, the same ones found on the last Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. There is a custom digital instrument cluster in place of the Lotus gauges. There's also a regen paddle on the left side of the steering wheel. With a full charge, Blue Lighting should go about 120 miles. While the car runs under its own power, it's only about 90 percent complete. It has no power steering, no firewall in between the seats and the motor and battery pack, no A/C, and a large hole where the shift lever used to be. Other final touches include fine-tuning the brakes and suspension. There is also a custom rear bumper coming that should make it look more like the new Lotus Evora 400. Onpoint Dyno expects the car to hit the track in the next month or so. Related Video:

This is how ground effects work in a nutshell

There are two ways to generate downforce. One is with all manner of wings and spoilers on the surface of the vehicle. The other is with ground effects. One you can clearly see, the other remains something of a hidden mystery. Fortunately, the good folks at Lotus and Goodwood are here to dumb it down for us non-engineer types. It's called Bernoulli's Principle, named after Swiss physicist Daniel Bernoulli who literally wrote the book on the subject way back in the 1700s. Countless engineers have spent their careers focused on its study and application, but the crux of the matter is that, as the speed of air (or other "fluid") increases, pressure decreases. Play with the air's increasing speed and decreasing pressure just right and you can generate downforce underneath the body of a car without significantly increasing drag as you would with surface spoilers. For evidence of how Bernoulli's Principle applies in practical terms, just look at the last Ferrari to pack a turbocharged V8 in the middle and the latest one. The F40 had a giant wing on the back, where the 488 GTB has none. But because the 488 uses underbody aerodynamics (or "ground effects"), it generates significantly more downforce than the winged F40 ever could, and at lower speeds. Ferrari, however, was not the first outfit to harness the power of ground effects. Lotus did with the legendary 79 that Mario Andretti drove to the world championship back in 1978. That was the genius of Colin Chapman, and to explain how it all works in layman's terms, our friends over at Goodwood Road & Racing brought in Colin's son Clive Chapman, head of Classic Team Lotus, to put together the video above. Related Video:

Lotus Elise, Exige recalled over oil line fire risk

Lotus is recalling 451 examples of the Elise and Exige from the 2007 and 2008 model years. The cars in question, built from December 1, 2006 to October 31, 2007 could be affected by an oil cooler line that detaches from its fitting. If the line comes loose it could release oil onto the engine and possibly start a fire, or onto a tire and potentially cause a crash.
A bulletin from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates the recall is expected to begin on March 4. Notified owners can take their cars to their dealers for repairs to the lateral oil cooler hose and hose fittings. You'll find the full release from the NHTSA below with more information.