Manufacturing of the Lotus Elise, Exige and Evora sports activities automobiles has resulted in readiness for the ramping up manufacturing of the all-new Emira – the model’s final petrol-powered automobile.
Between these three mannequin strains and over the course of 26 years, a complete of 51,738 automobiles can have come off the manufacturing line at Hethel in Norfolk.
Mixed, they signify virtually half of the entire manufacturing of Lotus in its 73-year historical past.
As well as, 9,715 sports activities automobiles had been constructed on the meeting strains for Lotus’s third-party purchasers, together with GM and Tesla.
From 1996 to 2000, the first-generation Elise and Exige sports activities automobiles had been in-built a small meeting corridor at Hethel alongside the Lotus Esprit.
The present meeting strains, which had been put in in 2000, shall be dismantled and changed with all-new state-of-the-art amenities in assist of the all-new Emira manufacturing facility.
Full Emira manufacturing begins within the spring, after the prototype and check phases at present underway are accomplished, taking Lotus sports activities automobile manufacturing into an thrilling, high-tech and semi-automated period, and growing capability as much as 5,000 automobiles per 12 months on a single shift sample.
The final examples of the Elise, Exige and Evora fashions are reserved for Lotus’ rising heritage assortment.
Becoming a member of the gathering would be the final Elise, a Sport 240 Closing Version completed in Yellow and the final of 35,124 automobiles; the final Exige, a Cup 430 Closing Version in Heritage Racing Inexperienced – quantity 10,497; and the final Evora – a GT430 Sport completed in Darkish Metallic Gray – the final of a manufacturing run of 6,117.
The Elise and Exige sports activities automobiles are constructed across the Lotus ‘small automobile platform’. On the identical platform, and in addition manufactured by Lotus at Hethel had been the Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220 (7,200 automobiles constructed between 2000 and 2005) and the Tesla Roadster (2,515 automobiles constructed between 2007 and 2012).
When the Lotus 340R, Europa, 2-Eleven and 3-Eleven automobiles are included, this brings the entire Lotus small automobile platform manufacturing volumes to 56,618 automobiles.
Subsequent out of the Lotus steady would be the Evija electrical hypercar, adopted by Lotus’s first SUV, which shall be revealed to the world within the spring.
