Type 130 - Lotus Evija

[NedaSay]

Uh I think Lotus can and will (please baby jezzzzus) do much better than this. And lose the Elise mirrors and Exige roll hoop already, this is a 2M$ car...

 

In the meantime the effort of Lotus, Pinifarina and Rimac haven't gone unnoticed by the powers that rule the motorsport industry, hence I give you the brand new SRO GTX World Tour Concept. 

Quote

 

SRO embraces sustainable motorsport with GTX World Tour

Few events can claim the same depth of history as the Total 24 Hours of Spa. First staged in 1924, it began on the tree-lined country roads between Francorchamps, Malmedy, and Stavelot at a time when the automobile industry was rapidly evolving.  

That same pioneering spirit is at the heart of the GTX World Tour, a new concept that draws its inspiration from the city-to-city contests that laid the foundation stones of motorsport during the early years of the 20th century. Just as those events saw new technologies put to the test, so GTX World Tour will embrace the latest automotive developments.

Reserved for machinery that uses alternative energy, it will be split across four classes: GT-X E will cater for electric power; GT-X H competitors will use plug-in hybrid equipment; GT-X H2 will utilise hydrogen-powered cars; while a GT-X A category for autonomous vehicles will be introduced at a later stage. 

The overall classification will not be determined as in a traditional race but will instead be decided by a combination of the timed competition and on energy consumption. As such, the fastest car that uses the least energy will emerge victorious.

The events will take the form of road shows that travel from city to city, with the European leg set to launch the concept in 2021. Further road shows will follow in North America (2022) and in Asia (2023) with multi-discipline competitions taking place along the way, including short-distance circuit races, rally stages and hillclimbs.

 

source : https://www.sro-motorsports.com/news/6/stephane-ratel-outlines-exciting-future-plans-during-annual-total-24-hours-of-spa-press-conference

and : https://www.endurance-info.com/fr/sro-lance-le-gtx-world-tour-concept-en-2021/

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by NedaSay

[Arregueti]

A category for autonomous cars? And energy consumption taken into account for the classification?

[NedaSay]

So how many very well heeled gents and ladies around to race cars worth probably over 2M$ in anger with a bunch of lunatics around a track...

Still I get what SRO is trying to do with the rapid growth of this niche and looking at immediate to midterm future and policies set in place by government, electric will be the future of automotive for a little while, until cold fusion can be achieved or skynet takes over... Trying to position their series and get one back to the Agag and his E-formulas is probably high on the list of SRO and the ACO. SRO is customer GT so it makes sense for them to at least propose something.

Beside I got to admit, imagining the Eviya is race trim with its motorsport livery makes me feel all gooey.  

[ramjet]

What in God's name is that last car in Nico's post? (and this is not asked in a 'wow' way)

[NedaSay]

I believ it is an Ariel hypercar: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/motorsport/ariel-motors-hipercar-electric-sports-supercar/index.html

[ramjet]

Well it's ugly.

[NedaSay]

^^^i will not disagree with you on that one.

[DaveyT]

Whoever designed that must have grown up reading Batman comics....

 

[electro_boy]

Looks like Optimus Prime’s head.  Which is great for a robot but gopping for a car. 

[Giniw]

Thank goodness it's just an artist impression, hopefully the real one will be beautiful.

[Escape]

On 26/07/2019 at 18:20, Arregueti said:

And energy consumption taken into account for the classification?

That's also the case in F1, as they're only allowed to use a certain amount of fuel.

[Arregueti]

@Escape Possibly. But I was reading this differently, as if they would measure who had more charge left at the end of the race and then declare that car a winner even if that car was not the first.

[Escape]

I guess they would need rules to compare charge left in the batteries to distance covered or time behind the 'leader' to determine the overall winner. Sounds like a can of worms. I believe racing should have as little rules as possible, just enough to ensure comparable vehicles participating, but leaving as much freedom as possible for the teams to innovate. So for example don't limit the amount of fuel, but let the teams decide if a powerfull but thirsty engine is worth having to stop to refuel (or recharge) more often.

[NedaSay]

12 hours ago, Arregueti said:

@Escape Possibly. But I was reading this differently, as if they would measure who had more charge left at the end of the race and then declare that car a winner even if that car was not the first.

I think they could go with a system not too differrent from the one in use in Formula E, any car with zero energy before the end of the last lap is technically DNF.

However I don't quite believe SRO will manage to get a sufficient number of participants in GTX. We are talking customers teams here able to fork in excess of $2m for a single car which is the price of the Evija, the C2 and the Batista, then you have to add the cost of developping race ready parts including tires that will be able to handle the torque... It souds more like full fledge factory squads  than customer teams.  I know a lot of  one percenters have cash to burn and are bored to death but we are talking about budget that would allow a team to compete in WEC LMGT decently here.

I know SRO GT3 IGTC championship is customer team in nothing but names considering the factories nominate both teams and drivers and do pay a part of the entry fee but IGTC is nowhere near the cost that GTX would be I believe.

Time will tell...

I'd prefer to Lotus to go compete in WEC-le Mans, Formula E by teaming up with Virgin or another team without a manufacturer deal or go grass root  with Evora GT4 and the upcoming sportcar in GT3 or GT LM. 

 

[NedaSay]

Uh did not quite see this one coming, this is just as big as Goodwood and to some extent the full unveil, Lotus is going to the Quail!

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/lotus-evija-quail-monterey-car-week/

We knew the car was coming to the US under the show import scheme but I thought -erroneously - that it was going to be presented in another form ( a rolling prototype) at a later stage...  But they are going to the Quail now where people will get very close to the car and have no qualm touching, grabbings sitting their asses in and on the car. That's commitment.

Edited July 31, 2019 by NedaSay

[100th_Idiot]

Get your ass to Quail

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

They need to get the Hollywood set to weigh in their dirty hybrid Toyota Priuses and buy a more environmentally friendly Evija to help save the whales.

[TLF News]

Lotus Evija to start world tour at Monterey Car Week

[kunstenaar]

Quote

 

Grr! I’m in Monterey for much of car week as usual, but won’t be around for the last weekend when the Evija is shown.  So close; yet so far! 

[Julian73]

On 26/07/2019 at 11:58, NedaSay said:

So how many very well heeled gents and ladies around to race cars worth probably over 2M$ in anger with a bunch of lunatics around a track...

S

Do you not watch Vintage F1 racing?  They do it all the time.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, Julian73 said:

Do you not watch Vintage F1 racing?  They do it all the time.

Have to agree with @Julian73 - Historic Classics (HSSC) in the UK and all over the world you will find wealthy car nuts racing wheel to wheel in ex Le Man's GT40's, 250's, Mclarens, LMP1/2 etc. You think those cars are cheap? And who do you think owns the classic F1's (including the JPS Lotus carbon one's that Classic Team Lotus runs - the drivers of course in many instances!!!)

[Spinney]

1 hour ago, The Pits said:

Wouldn't you all prefer to see what former Lotus F1 drivers think of it?

Err.........no! 

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, The Pits said:

I've got nothing against her personally but she looks like she's talking to young children. Maybe she is?

Let the dumbing down commence!

Wouldn't you all prefer to see what former Lotus F1 drivers think of it?

Better not let Crashtor anywhere near it, unless of course they have some spares!

[Luc2000]

20 hours ago, scotty435 said:

Ready to go racing 

 

Not sure about the colors, but I love how the word 'Lotus' is placed inside the big side air scoop. Would be great to see them at Le Mans, if it had a combustion engine it would be a perfect fit for the new hypercar-style rules.

[Bee]

4 hours ago, The Pits said:

I've got nothing against her personally but she looks like she's talking to young children. Maybe she is?

Let the dumbing down commence!

Wouldn't you all prefer to see what former Lotus F1 drivers think of it?

I know what you're saying but she's become 'the' name for first looks at hypercars and high-end supercars. I'd imagine someone in Lotus's team considered her growing reputation for showcasing these types of vehicles, saw her 1.78 million subscribers on YouTube and thought that's got to be worth 15-20 minutes of our time before the car's loaded up and taken to the next location.

 

I'd rather see the thoughts of former (and current) F1 stars when they actually allow people to drive it at speed. I realise that could be quite a while away yet though!