Lotus is set to make some noise at this week’s Geneva Motor Show
thanks to its foray into hybrid sports cars. The automaker’s Evora 414E Hybrid
bridges the familiar design of a sports car with hybrid drive and design
elements. Visitors at the Geneva Pelexpo will need to visit the Italdesign
stage in order to find another contribution made by Lotus to the future of hybrid
vehicles. Lotus worked with Italdesign and PROTON to create a hybrid drive train
for incorporation into future hybrids and EVs.
The work done by Lotus on the PROTON Concept may not be
apparent at first glance. Automotive design firm Italdesign worked with PROTON
to create the Concept, a plug-in hybrid car designed to improve urban mobility.
Lotus Engineering, an automotive design department within the larger Lotus
brand, contributed the drive train design along with a range-extending engine. This
collaboration offers an example of how components manufacturers, designers and
automakers may be able to work together to create fuel-efficient and
cost-effective vehicles.
Lotus and its collaborators are offering few metrics as they
present the PROTON Concept in Geneva. The PROTON Concept drive system is
capable of producing 15 kW of power in standard drive with a maximum output of
35 kW. The 1.2-liter range-extending engine from Lotus kicks into gear when the
lithium-polymer battery pack runs out of power. Lotus notes that the battery
pack is rechargeable from a standard 120-volt outlet to ensure short bursts of
all-electric power.
PROTON and Lotus have been working together on green vehicle
technologies going back to the Geneva Motor Show in 2007. This initial partnership
yielded the Efficient, Viable and Environmental (EVE) prototype that focused on
automakers who were concerned about the costs of high-mileage, low-emissions
vehicles. PROTON is also working with Detroit Electric Holdings Ltd. to develop
electric vehicles around the world, which lends more weight to its work with
Lotus.
While the PROTON Concept may seem like a flight of fancy,
the work done by PROTON, Lotus and Italdesign should not be written off so
quickly. Lotus has shown that it is putting its chips into range-extended
hybrids with the Evora 414E and the PROTON Concept. In committing so much of
its public capital on this technology, it is likely we will see this technology
hitting streets sooner rather than later. We may not see the PROTON Concept in
showrooms in the future but its components will be used to create the next
generation of green vehicles.
