Type 130 - Lotus Evija

[Bibs]

[Bravo73]

Woah. Kudos. 

[C8RKH]

Wow, that will give Lotus a boost as JB is a serious driver owner.

[Barrykearley]

Lovely - nice to see some high profile purchasers going public.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I didn’t know he lived in California. I wonder if he got a discount for his recent marketing activities? To be honest I don’t like the Brawn F1-esque livery. Anyway great to see a confirmed sale.

[Frickin_idiot]

1 hour ago, Barrykearley said:

Lovely - nice to see some high profile purchasers going public.

And a high profile purchaser that is a supremely talented driver

[exeterjeep]

4 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Wow, that will give Lotus a boost as JB is a serious driver owner.

And he could probably afford one.

 

When do we reckon the first one will actually get to a customer?

[Greg | ValetPro]

On 07/05/2021 at 12:53, AndyH said:

 

not seen this before.  Great interview.  Really excited to see the 131.

[TomE]

On 29/06/2021 at 22:09, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

I didn’t know he lived in California. I wonder if he got a discount for his recent marketing activities? To be honest I don’t like the Brawn F1-esque livery. Anyway great to see a confirmed sale.

I thought I read somewhere he'd had to declare his recent positive comments about Lotus and his experiences driving an Evora weren't a paid endorsement.  That was prior to announcements about other JB/Lotus partnerships.  I'm guessing the Lotus Engineering's involvement in JB's JBXE and Radford ventures probably entitles him to a partner discount on an Evija  

[C8RKH]

Not sure he needed to "declare" that @TomE, was it not just a response to the usual "troll's" and behaviour in general from social media suggesting it was a paid endorsement?

I'm actually hoping that this is a sign that lotus will continue to have relationships with ex British F1 drivers to support the development, marketing of their cars etc. And one day, I hope to see a return of Lotus to F1 (although it will most definitely be Formula E I am sure - and when WEC goes Electric their too) but not in a similar guise to their last Enstone incarnation.

[jimichanga]

For sure a very attractive deal was done. In marketing terms the value of JB owning and being seen in one is high. I think some kind of Brawn inspired livery is a cool idea personally. It would be great to see some videos of JB in action around some well known circuits which would also be part of the deal. Nico Rosberg has a Rimac Nevera (Concept 2), could be some epic Youtube content getting him together with JB.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, jimichanga said:

Nico Rosberg has a Rimac Nevera (Concept 2), could be some epic Youtube content getting him together with JB.

I really can't stand his YouTube channel. I put him in the category of Schmee - f@@king annoying smiley git

[TomE]

2 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Not sure he needed to "declare" that @TomE, was it not just a response to the usual "troll's" and behaviour in general from social media suggesting it was a paid endorsement?

I'm actually hoping that this is a sign that lotus will continue to have relationships with ex British F1 drivers to support the development, marketing of their cars etc. And one day, I hope to see a return of Lotus to F1 (although it will most definitely be Formula E I am sure - and when WEC goes Electric their too) but not in a similar guise to their last Enstone incarnation.

Instagram requires endorsements to be clearly tagged, his posts weren't tagged, some people asked him if they were endorsements, he said publicly they weren't.  You can say "say" if you like, but I said "declare": "to make known formally, officially, or explicitly" 🤷‍♂️

[C8RKH]

Endorsements yes, I believe they need to be declared. So he could have just ignored it and been ok. However, as stated, the usual internet behaviour suggesting it was a "paid" for thing meant he was forced to clarify the position.

We can probably keep this going for a few pages lol.

 

[TomE]

I think people would get tired of you being picky.

[C8RKH]

Yawn.

Do we know yet when first customer cars will be delivered?

[TomE]

Spring 2022 is what’s been said so far.

I guess they might give a month during the launch briefing but they’ll probably wait until further through production validation.  Some things affecting timing are outside Lotus control.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I thought we already had that back in July 2019?

[C8RKH]

Yup, last time I looked COVID was still causing supply issues all over the place.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Bravo73

[TomE]

One of my suppliers had to send about 20% of staff home last week to isolate.  Many other examples at the moment.  Brexit also having an impact on cross-border supplies.

[C8RKH]

Yup, Windle in his interview also mentioned the ongoing impact on things like battery supplies etc too.  I guess Covid is now so normal people forget how it is impacting on everything. 

[Kimbers]

The biggest issue in the car industry TBH is not Brexit or COVID its the lack of Semi Conductors/Chips for the manufacture of the cars. 

If companies like Peugeot and Kia are affected then imagine a small specialist manufacturer in Norfolk!

And when I say affected, I do mean it, seriously. Most manufacturers don't have stock of cars and are building to order. Especially automatics and higher spec cars that use more chips. I know our orders of Automatics and higher spec cars has gone from 10 weeks to 5 month lead time. Vans are especially hit, the vans we ordered in March will be with us in April 2022. hence why used van prices have sky rocketed and a used van is actually more expensive than a new one! (13 months lead time as opposed to being in stock).

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/global-chip-shortage/

 

 

[Greg | ValetPro]

Bibs is there going to be a Model forum for the 130?  

[Bibs]

I doubt we'll get many owners on here so there are no plans. That said, if there's demand I'll add it

 

[Greg | ValetPro]

I guess being so limited and the cost to purchase most conversation will be done via non owners. It also possible the owners not wanting to attract attention by discussing on the forum.  But The car is fascinating and might create some interesting conversations. Perhaps hold a Pole yes or No to the 130 Model Forum. I'll vote yes