Lotus puts the Elise, Exige and Evora out to pasture
Thursday, 23 December 2021
After more than a quarter of a century, Lotus is ending the production of the Elise, along with the Exige and Evora.
The Elise launched in 1996, and quickly became Lotus’ best-selling model. More than 35,000 have been built since then, with the platform also forming the bones of the Exige. That model shifted over 10,000 units, while the unrelated Evora is ending a production run of 6117 cars.
On the same small car platform, and also manufactured by Lotus at Hethel were the Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 (7200 cars built between 2000 and 2005) and the original Tesla Roadster (2515 cars built between 2007 and 2012).
Including the Lotus 340R, Europa, 2-Eleven and 3-Eleven cars, this brings the total Lotus small car platform production volumes to 56,618 cars.
**READ MORE:
* Lotus Auckland confirms pricing for Elise and Exige
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The final Elise, Exige and Evora models will be kept for Lotus’ heritage collection.
Lotus will disassemble their assembly lines, which have been in action since 2000, and replace them with state-of-the-art facilities in support of the all-new Emira factory. The Emira will begin production next year, after the final tests are completed.
Some of those tests were filmed, with Gavan Kershaw, Lotus’ director of attributes and product integrity, at the wheel.
He discussed the four different driving modes – Tour, for maximum stability and control; Sport, for increased body slip and throttle response; Race, with even greater “motorsport-derived” dynamics and a revised instrument cluster; and Fully Off, where all the assists get turned totally off.
“This is what a real sports car feels like.”
The mid-engined Emira is shaping up to be a proper send-off for the combustion engine from Lotus, powered by Toyota’s supercharged 3.5-litre V6 at first. Eventually it will get Mercedes-AMG’s epic 2.0-litre turbo four, the same one as in the A 45 S.
Power outputs are unknown but expect the six to produce close to the 298kW figure seen in the Evora 400.
As for the AMG engine, things are a bit more murky. The A 45 has 285kW and the A 45 S pushes things to 315kW so it could be anywhere between those. Or even more, who knows.
The V6 will be the only manual option, as the AMG engine can only be had with a dual-clutch automatic.
Following the Emira will be the all-electric Type 132, Lotus’ first SUV, set to be revealed next year.