Lotus Evora 414E hybrid hits the road

Lotus begins testing of its Evora 414E Range Extender Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Lotus has announced that its Evora 414E Range Extender Hybrid Electric Vehicle (or REEV for short) has begun testing at its headquarters at former RAF base Hethel in Norfolk, UK. Labeled a "technology demonstrator," the 414E delivers two and a half times the torque of the supercharged Evora S.

"The Evora S has 400 Nm of torque which in such a lightweight car is already a healthy figure," said Simon Corbett, Lotus Engineering's Principal Vehicle Dynamics Test and Development Engineer. "But the Evora 414E has two and a half times that amount. The acceleration sensation is almost indescribable, the surge of torque is like an ocean wave."

The 414E's 1000 Nm of torque is delivered by two electric motors, one each of the rear wheels. This figure, which appears in a Lotus press release, appears to be an increase over the previously quoted torque of 400 Nm per motor, a figure which is still live on the Lotus website.

The motors' output also seems to have increased from 306 to 309 kW (or from 410 to 414 hp) combined. Lotus has now given a top speed for the hybrid: 209 km/h (130 mph).

There appears to be a subtle change, too, in the quoted battery-only mileage which the press release puts at 48 km (30 miles) down from the 56 km (35 miles) still quoted on the website. Using an Xtrac 1092 transmission, the 414E produces a claimed 55 g of carbon dioxide per km when its three cylinder ranger extender engine (which runs on either gasoline, methanol or ethanol) is required. We assume that figure is based on the engine burning gasoline.

Otherwise, the performance and specs appear to have remained unchanged from those we reported when the Evora 414E was unveiled at the 2010 Geneva show.

Source: Gizmag