Wednesday 31st January 2007

Electric Lotus goes on show

ZAP uses Lotus chassis know-how

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ZAP to use Lotus APX technology

Electric carmaker ZAP will display Lotus Engineering's advanced APX concept car at the North American Dealers Association (NADA) annual meeting and exhibition on 3-6 February 2007.

ZAP said it confirms its decision to move ahead using Lotus' platform and body structure design as the basis for the development of the high performance electric ZAP-X.

ZAP and Lotus Engineering will begin the first phase of an engineering project to use Lotus' APX ("Aluminium Performance Crossover") as a basis for designing a production-ready electric all-wheel drive crossover high performance vehicle for ZAP in the USA market. A combination of the lightweight aluminium vehicle architecture, a new efficient drive and advanced battery management systems is intended to enable a range of up to 350 miles between charges, with a 10-minute recharging time. An auxiliary power unit is planned to support longer distance journeys.

Lotus APX's conventional petrol V6 engine will be replaced by in-hub electric motors, delivering 644bhp in all-wheel-drive mode, theoretically capable of powering the ZAP-X to a potential top speed of 155mph. A new strong, lightweight and highly efficient structure based on the Lotus technology is planned to give the car a very attractive power-to-weight ratio.

ZAP boss Steve Schneider said: "Lotus Engineering's APX technology demonstrator vehicle is a perfect fit for our plans to introduce a full product portfolio of electric cars. Due to the initial design by Lotus, our cost and time to production will be significantly reduced. We believe that the ZAP-X will become the most advanced, most practical and most appealing flagship electric vehicle to date and will revolutionise the industry providing the driver with the enjoyment of a sports car and the practicality of an SUV."

Lotus boss Mike Kimberley said: "Lotus Engineering's APX is a world-class innovative concept and was developed to showcase real solutions to new challenges facing the automotive industry. So it's very satisfying that ZAP's proposed new model will make use of a great deal of the APX concept's advanced body structure and chassis technology. The bringing together of these next-generation vehicle technologies represents another significant step forward for automotive technology."

The APX showcases Lotus Engineering's Versatile Vehicle Architecture technology, combining lightweight aluminium vehicle architecture with strong and stiff structural rigidity, as well as lower manufacturing investment requirements.

Having first been shown to the world at the Geneva motor show in 2006, the APX concept has won the 2006 European Aluminium Awards in the "Transport and Automotive" category.

The placement of the power train leaves the space previously occupied by the conventional engine and drive train for additional battery capacity and amenities, making it a very consumer-oriented electric car concept, said ZAP. These design features will give the ZAP-X crossover the structural strength, and potentially storage and range that no electric vehicle has yet achieved publicly.

The development programme will be managed from a new centre for research and development of environmentally-friendly vehicle designs and technologies. Engineering input will come from Lotus Engineering Inc, and the British technology consultancy's other R&D centres in the UK, Malaysia and China.

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[s2john]

Wow, did I read that correctly 10 minutes for a recharge! I dont know about PistonHeads it may become AmpereHour Heads This sounds serious stuff.

[smele]

And 644bhp, with 4 wheel drive.

[kawasicki]

wouldn't it ride & handle a whole lot better if they avoided in wheel motors. Sort the cooling out and mount the motors inboard!

Shane

[oppressed mass]

All I would need is a CD with different engine noises on and I'd be sold...

Edited by oppressed mass on Wednesday 31st January 13:57

[Ratten]

Same kind of range as with petrol iirc?

[scoobiewrx]

Somebody in the USA has already done this with an Ariel Atom. Saw a video on youtube with the Electric Atom doing a qtr mile drag against a couple of supercars.

The Atom ate the supercars for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! Mighty Quick!!!

Edited by scoobiewrx on Wednesday 31st January 14:47

[Janker]

Its like a giant Radio Controlled car with 4 x coreless motors! - great concept!

[GTRene]

yup, and no worry's about petrol prices and heavy fuel consumptions... and most importand independence from the most strong religius(don't like that idea) oilstates
I was once in a elektric sort of toy car/vehicle and the power is amazing can also be dangerous for some drivers its very fast so to make it for mass produktion they have to fit a lot other elektric goodies to prevent being shot of everytime you only look at the accellerator
Anf they still invent new stuf to make all lighter also don't forget with modern tech you don't need that lumpy engine anymore maybe a small generator so weight saved their can be translated into batteries and the inwheel motor weights...
I would love to have a go in one of those cars
GTRene

Edited by GTRene on Wednesday 31st January 15:33

[sa_20v]

But is it true they aren't selling those in the UK?

[geofflowe]

I loved that other electric car they sell in California but if this came out over here I would seriously think about selling my pride and joy to get one. As long as they don't make it so expensive its out of reach to mere mortals it could be the biggest thing for years - well done Lotus!

[mjk1]

So where's the drawback then? 350 mile range, 644bhp, 155mph, 10 minute re-charge, "very attractive power to weight ratio", zero emissons (if charged using a wind turbine!), is it April 1st. I'll believe it when I see it.

[wild]

Not sure how you can get 10 min recharge on a pure electric. I think something is flubbed there.

[andmole]

If the batteries can do all that they will cost more than your house!

[danmangt40]

the loser is the in-wheel motors. it's a neat trick of packaging, but in addition to putting weight in the wrong place ( on the wheels), it REQUIRES a pendulous mass on the body in the form of batteries.... none of which adds up to a nice handling car. the tesla is the stepping stone to these more radical electric cars, but I honestly think in-wheel motors mounted in-board (like in-board brakes on '32 ford hot-rods) would result in a far nicer balance...

still... for it to be on APX bodes well for the industry, allowing for many cars to immediately be available using the tech if it catches on!

[GTRene]

I think those inwheel motors good be a "good" thing...
the power as short as possible were you need it..the wheels/tires
All independend? working from eachother so no need of heavy difs or axels so no wear out on those parts!! also braking on the engine's so very low wear on a lot of parts or stres this way...and weight on the most edge places can mean traction, otherwise a normal setting of a heavy engine likes to go out the car in a corner so pushes you more where that heavy part is, in wheel motors don't have that problem that way...
all theoreticly ofcorse...?
GTRene

[s2john]

Still cant get my head round 10 minutes for a full charge when you consider how long it takes to charge a mobile phone & bearing in mind the size these batteries are likely to be to achieve the ampere hour necessary to give that sort of mileage

[tr3a]

s2john said:

Still cant get my head round 10 minutes for a full charge when you consider how long it takes to charge a mobile phone & bearing in mind the size these batteries are likely to be to achieve the ampere hour necessary to give that sort of mileage

They'll probably be capacitors instead of batteries. And pumping that kind of energy into them in such a short time will most likely require parking right next to a power plant and some very short charging leads of about 5" thick.

Anyway, I want an electric car. Now. I desperately need one, as I've had it with the ridiculously complicated, dirty and noisy IC engine in my daily motor. I don't want it any more, I only need to commute about forty miles or so a day and a nice, quiet, cheap-to-run electric car with loadsa torque would be just great for that. Let it be known that I'll buy the first affordable, mainstream, usable and easy to live with electric car that comes to the market. So it won't be this one.

And before anybody asks: yes, of course I will keep my noisy, stinking, polluting classics. But only for the weekend.

[MilnerR]

What will the greenies do if this technology becomes widespread? The average environmentalist is anti-car on a purely political level, using the pollution argument to lever support. If they lose the environmental angle what will they do then? It will be a dark day for swampy and his mates if this type of technology become mainstream.

Incidentally, how much electricity would one of these require to run? Would it be feasible to power something like this from things like wind turbines? I'm not asking this in a "save the planet" way but in a paying no tax on fuel type of way....

[MTv Dave]

In-wheel-hub motors? Doesn't that increase the unsprung weight loads and loads?

[pasthim]

MilnerR said:

What will the greenies do if this technology becomes widespread? The average environmentalist is anti-car on a purely political level, using the pollution argument to lever support. If they lose the environmental angle what will they do then? It will be a dark day for swampy and his mates if this type of technology become mainstream.

Incidentally, how much electricity would one of these require to run? Would it be feasible to power something like this from things like wind turbines? I'm not asking this in a "save the planet" way but in a paying no tax on fuel type of way....

Well, bear in mind that electricity comes from buring fossil fuels and nukes so they'll still have that to (justifiably I suppose) moan about.

Still, a 10 minute recharge??? Are we 100% sure about this. If so this car could be the most significant car since the Model T!