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Lotus and Proton increase the fuel efficiency of the Proton Gen-2 by 28% while decreasing C02 emissions by 22%

When it comes to building vehicles that are required to be lightweight and fuel efficient, it's good to have a partner like Lotus on your side.

The company, which builds the lightweight Elise and Exige aluminum sports cars, has in the past worked in conjunction with Tesla Motors to develop the all-electric Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster is loosely based on the Lotus Elise roadster and manages to bolt from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds flat and tops out at 130 MPH. Thanks to its generous battery pack, the Tesla Roadster can travel 250 miles on a charge.

Lotus Engineering and its parent-company, Proton, are taking their engineering expertise to the next level with a new hybrid-electric sedan technology demonstrator. At this year's Geneva Auto Show, the Lotus EVE Hybrid (Efficient, Viable, Environmental) was unveiled to the world.

Lotus took a Proton Gen-2 and paired it with a full parallel electric hybrid drive system. The 1.6 liter gasoline engine works in conjunction with a 30kw motor, 144V NiMH battery pack and a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Using the hybrid powertrain, Lotus was able to cut the CO2 emissions of the Proton Gen-2 from 172g/km to 134g/km. Combined city/highway fuel economy also rose from 39.2 MPG to 50.2 MPG. When operating in full hybrid mode, the EVE Hybrid generates 141 HP, can travel 0 to 60 in 9 seconds and tops out at 118 MPH.

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Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 11:22:46 AM , Rating: 2
Not a bad 0-60 time but...

I'd still rather spend $8000 on a billet VT 324 cid long block for my Cobra and have 1400 horses at the wheels.




RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 11:24:21 AM , Rating: 2
I was looking at the 0-60 in 4 seconds, not 9 seconds... ouch.

Thats slower than my slug of a 4 banger Camry.


RE: Not bad
By Merry on 3/6/2007 11:52:36 AM , Rating: 2
9 seconds isn't that bad. My cars 0-60 is 13 seconds.

I've seen a few gen-2s knocking around and I actually quite like the way they look. I wouldn't know about what they're like to drive, though. Hopefully Lotus sorted out the Suspension as well as the drivetrain.

If its cheap enough it might just make hybrids that little bit more acceptable in my eyes. I still think its only a stop-gap at best or, at worse some sort of marketing ploy, though.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:13:58 PM , Rating: 2
I have to wind the crap out of the Camry and STILL feel like I'm drifting backwards in traffic in molasses when taking off from a stop. Hot summer day with the AC on going uphill in wind? Forget it...gas pedal might as well not even be connected to anything. Talk about being a easy target to pick on. Minivans start shit. I hate being weak and helpless and pushed around and left with scraps. Thats 130HP/145TQ and 0-60 in only 7 seconds.

I can't imagine 0-60 in 9 or 13 seconds. Maybe if everyone else was driving a Trabant or something...

The Cobra does 0-60 in at most 3 seconds and gets like 5 MPG less as computed on the odometer per tank.


RE: Not bad
By Merry on 3/6/2007 12:24:25 PM , Rating: 2
On the road its really not that bad once I get up to speed as its pretty perky at the high rev range. I have a Fiat Punto 55 1.1 (and the 55 apparently sounds for 55hp but I cant vouch for that). I've never found it too much of an issue, you've just got to get a bit crafty with the traffic and work with the gears a lot.

0-60 in 9 seconds really isnt all that bad in normal conditions. I'd consider 0-60 in 7 seconds fast.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:34:41 PM , Rating: 1
0-60 in 7 would be fast to me too if everyone around here didn't drive around with their foot to the floor. It's crazy.

In that car, people in front of me just keep pulling away, and people behind me will weave in and out and blow past me, coming dangerously close to my rear corner, just because they can, even if I'm doing 75 in a 55. Doesn't matter which lane I'm in.

It's fvcking ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that most average cars are, even if only slightly, faster than a Camry. People seem to slow down and stay off the gas and are far less aggressive and pushy when I'm in driving the Cobra. They probably know I can and will pounce them if they show any sign of ill tempered aggression.


RE: Not bad
By CascadingDarkness on 3/6/2007 7:53:53 PM , Rating: 2
That's why I prefer the 'Bond' starter package with all my cars. Rear caltrops and frontal rocket headlights included.


RE: Not bad
By otispunkmeyer on 3/7/2007 3:57:40 AM , Rating: 2
no thats nothing to do with your car

thats to do with american drivers being some of the most agressive intolerant drivers in the world


RE: Not bad
By evildorf on 3/7/2007 4:28:58 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
thats to do with american drivers being some of the most agressive intolerant drivers in the world


I thought that too until I went outside the country for the first time. Americans, excepting some tiny percentage, are fairly congenial behind the wheel compared to many.


RE: Not bad
By Spivonious on 3/7/2007 9:56:14 AM , Rating: 2
From what I hear from an Italian I met, Italian drivers are the worst by far.


RE: Not bad
By FITCamaro on 3/6/2007 12:40:06 PM , Rating: 2
I doubt it considering the Mustang has no rear traction (even the 05+s with their attempted copying of the Fbodys torque arm). Unless you're talking about a drag car.

Even the SCed 03 Cobras don't get to 60 in 3 seconds. Definitely not the 02 and earlier ones. Heck even the Saleen S281 Extreme only makes 0-60 in around 4.3 seconds. And thats with 550hp. The new Z06 beats that with 45 less horsepower, 60 lb-ft less torque, and the same price.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:47:25 PM , Rating: 1
Nitto 555DR 315/35s with solid bushings and braced rear end with 3.73s and T2-R works pretty well in enabling the Kenne Bell to do its job.

Add level 5 half shafts, and a built IRS and the '03s can do wheel stands as well as any straight axle.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:50:15 PM , Rating: 2
Ok so maybe not 0-60, more like 5-60 or 10-60 on the street, I was making a point. But it doesn't matter much, you've got other things to worry about, like breathing =D


RE: Not bad
By otispunkmeyer on 3/7/2007 3:53:16 AM , Rating: 2
ford reckon my focus does 0-60 in 14.1 but it does feel a hell of alot quicker than that. they must of had 4 bodies in the car.

it does suck up hill in the wind yes, i even find my self changing down to 4th on motorways sometimes. but the engine sounds glorious (ironically the 1.4 in my car is actually one of the better sounding in the whole focus range lol) so ragging it is a pleasure. with some foot flat acceleration and takin it to 4-5000rpm its more than capable of keeping up and its only got 70bhp

granted you do have to drive it pretty un-economically to get that kind of progress out of it. kinda defeats the point of a small economical engine lol


RE: Not bad
By Spivonious on 3/7/2007 9:58:29 AM , Rating: 2
My Focus is rated at 7.something ...2.0L Zetec, ~140bhp. It's plenty fast for normal driving and the occasional zipping around.


RE: Not bad
By miekedmr on 3/7/2007 1:04:42 PM , Rating: 2
You mentioned you drive a cobra. It's just your perception that it's slow. A Camry of any year is perfectly drivable.

Minivans start shit? Do you mean you fight other cars while driving??

Seriously, if you look at driving as a sport, go to a road course or a drag strip. I hate when idiot drivers fly by and/or cut me off because they think I'm racing them.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:23:26 PM , Rating: 2
If I wasn't running the cams I'm running (.484 @ 258/270), I could probably slip the clutch out and bog it at 750 RPM and roll out with traffic with ease.

I wonder what consumes more gas, a 2.2L screaming at 6200 RPM or a 4.6L loping along at < 1000 RPM.


RE: Not bad
By gotincon on 3/6/2007 12:58:19 PM , Rating: 1
exdeath, you sound like an absolute idiot and the more you post the worse it gets.

You exhibit all the traits of a ricer but appear to own a mustang. Do the rest of car enthusiasts a favor and quit posting crap on the internet. (some of what you have said is just untrue and doesn't even fall into the "crap" category) Your posts are sub corral.net quality, and if it can't even fly there, don't bring it to dailytech. People like you are the reason my insurance rates are high.


RE: Not bad
By djtodd on 3/6/2007 1:09:32 PM , Rating: 2
Just ignore the troll. The giant wanker troll...


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 1:10:16 PM , Rating: 2
No, people who hit and run without insurance and teenagers who act like idiots in their parents new car because it has a spoiler, is what makes your insurance high.

I've not so much as ever had a parking ticket.

What 'ricer traits'? This sub thread is talking about 0-60 times of hybrids and I expressed my dissatisfaction and shared my preferences and daily driving experiences to quantify my position on inadequate acceleration. Ask anyone who lives in Tucson, driving around here almost requires Nascar experience because people are that fvcking crazy here. If you drive a Hybrid here you WILL get run over, end of story.


RE: Not bad
By Funksultan on 3/6/2007 2:22:31 PM , Rating: 2
I think he was referring to your obviously derailing comments about 1400 horses, your tricked out cobra, and the plethora of other crap that apparently is posted here to impress someone.

The article is about a great new inovation in hybrid technology, and the specs, both in hybrid and elec modes are perfectly fine for every city/highway in the United States, and probably the world (Autobahn being the exception). If you can't wrap your head around that, just please, post on some wannabe-racer board where you can at least impress SOMEONE. It's just not gonna happen here at DT.

"Wahhhh wahhhh, people straight up drive fvcking crazy around here yo! Dem hybrids are wack."

Kek.


RE: Not bad
By gotincon on 3/6/2007 5:12:01 PM , Rating: 2
Yep, that would be the source of my comments.

1400 horses at the wheels. Makes you look stupid but okay.

0-60 in 2 sec. AGAIN you look stupid, now I know you don't know squat about cars or timing or both.

"You need at least a 5 second time to survive" Are you generally ignorant or do you not know that 99% of the cars on the road in your area (or any area) can't even hope to pull a 5 second 0-60. So how are you going to be run over by slower cars? You must live 10 seconds at a time, racing light to light. :rolleyes:

Your cobra does it in "at most 3" because you have a torsen, bushings, and nittos. You have taken sticky tires, mated them to a weak road racing diff, and put in solid bushings that bind up your jantastic fairmont based mustang suspension which means that any bump in the road is going to cause wheelspin. Not that it matters, your diff will break shortly with the 3 second 0-60's you keep pulling off.

Your posts read straight out of F&TF. Blah Blah Blah, don't feed the troll. Fine by me, but I have called you out on numerous occasions on here for your craptastic car musings which are generally stretched if not outright wrong.

Maybe here is the only place you can pull it off. Maybe the average computer enthusiast knows nothing about cars, but some of us do have a clue.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 6:24:25 PM , Rating: 3
www.vtengines.com

They have big bore 324 strokers that can make 1400+ WHP with 20 psi. No I don't have one, show me where I said I did? I said I'd rather buy one of their long blocks for my existing car instead of a hybrid. As for a stock Terminator long block, 600+ to the wheels is non uncommon and more than enough to move those heavy cars into the 10s with factory 6 speed and IRS (though the IRS won't last long with slicks).

I put up a range of 2-4s to include all bikes and typical high performance cars which are all in the 4 second stock range on radials (Cobra, Viper, Z06, etc) in order to express a preference of what I considered desirable. A range from 2-4s which was to include a variety of vehicles including bikes, and for whatever reason you are fixated on "2" and my car, implicitly linking the two when it was never implied. And I know 99% cars can't pull a 0-60 in 5s... thats why I prefer cars that do it in 4s.

As for being arrogant, I apologize... I'm stuck driving my slow ass Camry because of mud, gravel, and pot holes due to construction on my route to work and I felt the need to be imature and lash out at slow cars since everyone thinks its funny picking on me when I’m not in the Cobra. I swear when I drive that Camry it’s like a “lets waste that guy” magnet for anybody with a 0.001s faster car when all I want to do is mind my business and get where I'm going… guess a stock Camry is the only thing they can waste…


RE: Not bad
By Spivonious on 3/7/2007 10:06:26 AM , Rating: 2
ATTENTION:

This is a technology website. Stop bragging about your car.


RE: Not bad
By Thoreau on 3/6/2007 6:24:18 PM , Rating: 2
Try coming North a bit to Phoenix and spend a little time on the 101, or Bell Road. Then you'll see REAL retards =)

I went to Tucson for a contract with Honeywell some time ago and if anything, you folks are sloooooooooooooooow compared to Phoenix psychos, er, drivers.


RE: Not bad
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 6:36:42 PM , Rating: 2
The real retards in Tucson are the uninsured Mexicans with expired registration in their lifted 4x4s just barreling through weaving in and out of traffic without warning muscling their way through. They think we have the same traffic laws (i.e.: none) as Mexico and hitting someone is ok as long as they don't get busted... if you sniff real hard you can get a whiff of the bud light as they run by.


RE: Not bad
By WhiteBoyFunk on 3/6/2007 6:09:29 PM , Rating: 1
I'm confident when I say not too many of us care about your Ford (I'm a foreign car fan). Anyway, the only time you would probably start that thing up is to take it on the quarter. 1400 whp isn't exactly what we call efficient. As a matter of fact, it's just the opposite! Race with the rest of the people who just pump thousands of doollars in their car. Leave the difficult drift racing to us talented drivers :P


RE: Not bad
By theapparition on 3/7/2007 7:57:42 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I'd still rather spend $8000 on a billet VT 324 cid long block for my Cobra and have 1400 horses at the wheels.


Eh, you forgot to mention the $30,000 other mods you'd have to do to actually get 1400hp to the pavement without disintegrating the rest of the driveline. Suspension, brakes, rollcage? But otherwise, I agree with your point.

I bet your cobra is fast, but without other mods to get the power to the pavement, you could have a hard time hooking up. What's your best 1/4 run now?


enough for most people
By lazyinjin on 3/6/2007 11:20:53 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
When operating in full hybrid mode, the EVE Hybrid generates 141 HP, can travel 0 to 60 in 9 seconds and tops out at 118 MPH.


.....this is enough for most people as a daily driver..and the automotive industry knows it. They want people to buy bigger and more powerful cars, even though they don't need them.




RE: enough for most people
By Scabies on 3/6/2007 11:32:31 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
.....this is enough for most people as a daily driver

yeah, but what about the price tag?
I would bite the bullet and let performance slip in favor of weekly cost, however the initial price tag is generally unacceptable.


RE: enough for most people
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:16:31 PM , Rating: 1
Says you. Last I checked we don't live in a society where someone else tells us what we need.

0-60 in 7 seconds makes me feel like I'm going to be run over, much less 9. I prefer something in the range of 2-4 in order to move with traffic without feeling handicapped or like I'm being an obstacle


RE: enough for most people
By ksherman on 3/6/2007 12:24:18 PM , Rating: 2
0-60 in 2 seconds? What are you looking for, a crotch-rocket? My Neon is 0-60 in about 10 seconds, sure its dismal, but the fact that its stick make me focus less on the fact that I havent gotten to 60 yet, and more on the fact that im having a good time driving :-)

Plus, when I 'shoot' off the line, there is hardly ANYONE that is trying to keep up with me. They are back a ways. Drivers around here (Chicago suburbs) don't floor their cars everywhere they go, nor should they.


RE: enough for most people
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:28:07 PM , Rating: 2
In Tucson, I don't think anybody knows how to modulate their speed with their accelerator pedal. It's either foot off for a red light or a stop sign (sometimes...), or all the way to the floor.


RE: enough for most people
By Nanobaud on 3/6/2007 12:42:05 PM , Rating: 2
That's 0-60 MPH. Nothing licensed on the road in Tucson will do that anywhere near 2 seconds. (Though I do think I've seen your Dad's Cobra rumbling around town. Nice, but the gearings a bit tall for the first 60MPH. Maybe 3.5 seconds at best.)


RE: enough for most people
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 12:58:56 PM , Rating: 2
dark shadow grey vert with loppy bassani exhaust note?

I've got 3.73s in it not the 3.55s. It's primarily a stop light rocket. Top end = felony speeding, acceleration is where the fun is.

And it belongs to me as well. My parents have their own toys.


RE: enough for most people
By raionz on 3/6/2007 7:46:59 PM , Rating: 2
that makes sense now.
you must be 16years old and your parents got you that thing


RE: enough for most people
By exdeath on 3/6/2007 1:16:46 PM , Rating: 1
I said 2-4 just to put a range out there that wouldn't exclude any bikes and most cars considered to be faster than average are typically in the 4 something second range. Why is everyone so facinated by just the 2 and ignoring everything else now?

The things people will leave out to attack something.


little off topic
By semo on 3/6/2007 11:01:09 AM , Rating: 2
how do you know whether imperial or u.s. gallon is used when quoting mpg figures?




RE: little off topic
By Maharajamd on 3/6/2007 11:41:58 AM , Rating: 2
Also are these based on Euro calculations or on our EPA? I assume they would be EU figures. Wonder what the numbers would be with the new EPA system?


Nice, but nothing too special
By Hoser McMoose on 3/6/2007 4:27:32 PM , Rating: 2
The car looks decent and practical, but it's still not matching what Toyota has been doing with their Prius for a few years now. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for good, fuel efficient vehicles, but this looks like it's still just a concept car.

The real trick will be what it's like when they actually bring it to market and how much it sells for, and of course reliability. Proton's real advantage has traditionally been low cost. If they can bring this car to market for a fair amount less then a Prius or a Honda Civic Hybrid then they might have something of a winner on their hands... for the European market at least. I'm sure if they even sell on this side of the pond, I've certainly never seen one!




RE: Nice, but nothing too special
By jabber on 3/7/2007 4:53:00 AM , Rating: 2
Lotus development stuff usually makes its way through to the marketplace. Lotus is a funny firm they have two divisions - The car making side and the development side.

The development side is always really busy designing stuff for loads of motor companies and does really well. The car making side however, is never that great.

Living just a couple of miles from the Lotus factory you do get to see some cool stuff on the local roads around Norwich.

As for 140bhp+ and top speed of 118mph thats fine by me. I should think its the weight penalty that hits it. I bet a standard Gen-2 with 140bhp+ would do close to 130mph+ but I think the chassis would make it a tad scary.

Would be interesting to compare kerb weights of the two versions.


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