Lotus wins green car projects

The company, part of the Malaya’s Proton car company, is part of two winning project consortia, announced by the UK Government Technology Strategy Board, that will work on the two schemes. They will be allocated part of a total £23 million for 16 innovative low carbon vehicle development programmes. Including investments from companies such as Lotus, these projects collectively represent a total value of £52 million. As part of the Zero Emission London Taxi Commercialisation project, Lotus is working alongside Intelligent Energy, LTI Ltd and TRW Conekt. It has considerable experience in developing high technology hybrid demonstrator vehicles, and supporting its clients on electric vehicle programmes. This particular project will see the introduction of commercial fleets of zero-emission fuel cell hybrid taxis primarily for London by 2012, and other cities by 2014. Lotus said the fuel cell taxi project pushes the complexity of this type of vehicle to a new level of advanced technology. Lotus Engineering will integrate the fuel cell engine with the electric drive train and hydrogen storage system, firstly bench testing, then integrating them back into a ‘buck’ vehicle and finally packaging the assembly into two taxis for full vehicle testing. The second project, Limo-Green, takes a Jaguar as a basis for the development proving out the concept of a large luxury hybrid executive saloon, utilising an advanced drive motor, small battery pack and a small Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) for sustained cruising. In a collaboration between Lotus Engineering, Jaguar Cars Ltd, MIRA Ltd and Caparo Vehicle Technologies, the project’s aim is to demonstrate a large, prestigious executive saloon with less than 120 g/km emissions. Lotus Engineering will design and build a number of prototype Auxiliary Power Units and provide technical support for installation into the vehicle. The APU is an extremely efficient system, with ultrahigh thermal efficiency and high power output. Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley (pictured) said the company, which has always championed lighter weight cars in the cause of energy efficiency, was committed to driving forward with high technology advances into areas such as hybrid and electric vehicles. “There is a world-wide drive to reduce CO2 emission levels and this is something to which we are dedicated, for both our Lotus cars and our global engineering client,” he continued. “We wholeheartedly endorse the Government’s initiatives through this investment from the Technology Strategy Board, which will assist in taking forward research, development and demonstration of these environmentally conscious and green transport solutions.”