Published July 4, 2012
By Huw Evans
With Nissan’s Infiniti division having announced running, driving versions of its
EMERG-E concept at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, it only made sense for Lotus to reveal it’s operable version of the Evora 414E, – a car with which the Infiniti shares a number of aspects, including the chassis and basic drive system.
Both vehicles have been developed as part of the REEVolution R&D project, a consortium led program funded by the UK government’s Innovation Agency.
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The Evora 414E has been subject to a fairly lengthy gestation period, having begun development back in 2010. Like the EMERG-E, it uses twin electric motors to drive the rear wheels, with a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder internal combustion engine serving as a range-extending generator.
Lotus says that, like the Infiniti, the Evora 414E can travel a distance of up to 30 miles on electric power alone, while the three-cylinder engine (which is designed to run on gasoline or methanol or alcohol) is able to extend range up to 300 miles.
In an official press release from the company, Lotus says the Evora 414E will accelerate from 0-60 mph in four seconds and boasts a top speed of 130 mph – however it doesn’t say how long it will take to get to 130 mph from rest (Infiniti says 30 seconds for the EMERGE-E).
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Although, due to the weight of the battery pack, the Evora 414E is significantly heavier than the Evora S (likely around 3,550 lbs, if the EMERG-E is anything to go by); thanks to 408 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque on tap in the Evora 414E, performance more than healthy by EV standards.
According to Simon Corbett, principal vehicle dynamics test and development Engineer at Lotus, the Evora 414E’s acceleration “is almost indescribable, the surge of torque is like an ocean wave.”
At this point in time, it’s difficult to say whether the 414E will ever become a production car, since like the running EMERG-E, it’s been largely conceived as a rolling showcase for advanced vehicle technology, in keeping with REEV (Range Extending Electric Vehicle) project guidelines.
Nevertheless, it does show what kind of performance potential is available with range extending technology, even at this early stage in the game.
