Lotus Evora Hybrid concept at Geneva

After Telsa was successful in marketing a $100,000 electric sports car based on the Elise, it is easy to see why Lotus has decided to venture into the hybrid car market. Based on the Evora, the concept car shown at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show replaces the 3.5-liter Toyota-based V-6 with a 1.2-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine. The gasoline engine does not put any power to the pavement, but is designed to replenish the centrally located lithium-ion battery pack. The battery pack is connected to two electric motors; one at each rear wheel. Each motor churns out 204 hp and 295 lbs.-ft. of torque for a whopping total output of 408 hp and 590 lbs.-ft. of torque. Because the electric motors operate separately, Lotus will be able to mimic a limited-slip differential/stability control system by simply modulating the power that each wheel receives.

The Evora 414e Hybrid can run up to 35 miles without using a drop of gasoline and has a full range of more than 300 miles. Like the Tesla, the car can be plugged in at home to refill the battery. Keeping in line with the rest of the lineup and despite the extra weight of the battery pack, the Evora will be able to squirt to 60 mph in less than four seconds. Because electric cars can be a safety hazard to those that do not hear them, the electric Evora will come with a sound generator to create an artificial driving sound. The driver has four choices to scare warn pedestrians with: a V-6, a V-12, a futuristic car sound (?), or a combination of futuristic and gasoline-engine sounds.

The most interesting and disturbing part the concept car is the fake transmission operation. The car utilizes a single-speed geartrain for each motor but the car comes equipped with steering-column-mount shift paddles. Press for an upshift and the car will imitate a normal car by jumping forward by increasing torque to the rear wheels or press for a downshift and the car will mimic engine braking by throwing the transmission into regenerative mode, the severity of which is dependent on what gear you came from and went to. The car's fake sound will also work with the car's fake gear changes to give driver the sense that he is driving a normal sports car. If you want you can turn the whole fake seven-speed F1-style gearbox off.



To round out the concept, Lotus painted the Evora in a nice black-and-copper scheme (think Duracell battery) and even painted on some sort of circuit-board