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Lotus has released a new variant of its Evora sports car called the GT430 and boasting that its the most powerful road going car that it has ever produced. Sporting lightweight carbon-fibre panels and better performance, the car is pipped to be the most exhilarating Lotus on the road right now. In fact, it has even managed to beat the lap time of the super lightweight Lotus 3-Eleven on the manufacturer’s Hethel test track.

Its looks aren’t that dissimilar from other variants that bear the nameplate, however the devil is in the details. It has specially designed body panels that feature exposed carbon weave sections at the front and rear. The front and rear bumper, front splitter, front access panel, roof panel rear wing and tailgate are all made from carbon-fibre.

When placed side by side with the regular version, it becomes apparent that the GTE430 has larger front apertures, a new carbon fibre splitter, air blades and louvers positioned on top of each front wheel arch.

At the rear, aero ducts behind each wheel reduce pressure in the wheel arch, there’s wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, and a large rear diffuser. Both are crowned by the large, profiled carbon wing. As a whole, the car generates up to 250kg of downforce through its thoroughly tweaked aerodynamics.

And the extensive use of these lightweight materials has resulted in the car shedding 26kg at 1,258kg making it the lightest Evora produced, lighter still than the anorexic Evora Sport 410. This feat was accomplished despite the addition of 9kg worth of aero kit including the carbon-fibre rear wing as well as larger wheels and tyres.

The car is still powered by the same 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine that produces 430bhp and 440Nm of torque. The increase in torque is a direct result of a new air-to-liquid gearbox cooler which first debuted on the Evora 400.

The engine is mated to 6-speed manual gearbox that features a low inertia, single-mass flywheel. Lotus has also fitted the car with a Torsen-type limited slip differential (LSD) to give it better traction and faster exit speeds during cornering.

Thanks to the performance increase, the car is able to sprint from 0-100km/h in just 3.8 seconds and reach a top sped of 305km/h. And the edition of a titanium exhaust system that is 10kg lighter than the standed one, the car seems to hit all the right notes.

As for suspension, the car gets Öhlins TTX two-way adjustable shocks and Eibach Springs which not only offer a 10kg weight saving but provide drivers with better options to fine tune the setup to suit their needs.

Just like the exterior, the cabin incorporates the same carbon theme with the carbon trim panels, carbon race seats and carbon instrument binnacle cover that complement the graphics design on the instrument panel.

There’s the same dynamic stability modes (Drive, Race and Off) that alter the electronic safety systems based on how much control the driver prefers to have over the car.

Despite the extreme weight saving measures that were taken, Lotus still managed to give it a touchscreen infotainment system that offers iPod and bluetooth connectivity functions as well as satellite navigation and reverse camera integration.

The steering wheel, dashboard, door panels, transmission tunnel and centre console are all trimmed in a combination of black Alcantara and perforated leather, with a full leather or full Alcantara trim option available at no additional cost. All trim choices are complemented by contrasting twin colour stitching, in red and white, and matte black interior panels.

Speaking of the car, Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc said, “The Evora GT430 is a landmark car for Lotus. It’s a truly beautiful car, meticulously finished in hand-crafted carbon, and employing the latest aerodynamics and lightweight materials. This highly developed vehicle perfectly reflects Lotus’ attention to engineering and design.”

According to Lotus, only 60 of these cars will ever be produced making it one of the rarest Evora cars in the history of the company. We shall have to wait and see if one or two manages to make its way to our shores.

The famous London Taxi Company, the very same one that used the iconic Austin black cabs to shuttle passengers in and around the city, has been renamed to LEVC. The move is said to be part of the company’s transformation under parent company, Geely.

The name change was done to help position the company as more of an international entity, that is poised to serve the needs and wants of customers all over the world. The Chinese automotive giant has pumped in RM1.8 billion worth of investments with a goal of turning LEVC into the urban commercial vehicle provider of choice around the world. And to bolster this claim, the company also unveiled a new fully-electric London taxi, called the TX.

The car features styling that is a mix-and-match of the old and contemporary styling that has resulted in a rather bizarre looking black cab. It seems as though certain design elements and trim pieces were taken from that of contemporary generation Volvos, is is especially evident when it comes to the interior.

The TX is powered by eCity technology that comprises of advanced battery electric powertrain that is aided by a small petrol powered generator. Working in tandem, the system provides the TX with a range of 644km including more than 113km on pure electric power.

Speaking of the latest addition and changes to the company, Chris Gubbey, CEO, LEVC said, “The launch of LEVC marks Britain’s leadership as a first mover in creating the world’s only dedicated electric vehicle company for the urban commercial market. Drawing on the best of British design and engineering as well as technical expertise from our sister company Volvo, our products will help transform city living.”

The company says that the TX will be launched in London later this year because LEVC is still finalizing the quality and testing methods to evaluate the car’s readiness to function around the world. So far, the car has been taken to the Arizona desert to endure torturous heat under the desert sun as well as freezing temperatures in the Arctic Circle, the other extreme to the scorching Arizona weather.

All of this is being done to prove that no matter where the TX is driven, irrespective of weather conditions, it will function as it should. LEVC’s first international order of 225 vehicles has come from RMC in the Netherlands, which is one of the country’s largest taxi operators.

London is one of the pioneers in setting out tough emission standards to reduce taxi and van emissions. This has spurred the adoption of electric vehicles by commercial transportation operators in the city.

Eventually, this will be common practice around the world as governments take steps to reduce the impact they have on the environment.

Volvo has announced that from 2019 and onwards, all cars that it produces will have some form of electrification. This means that in two years time, Volvo will only be producing vehicles with hybrid or fully-electric propulsion systems.

This move confirms Volvo Cars’ commitment to minimizing its environmental impact on our planet and making the cities of the future, cleaner. Volvo Cars is focused on reducing the carbon emissions of both its products as well as its operations. It also aims to have manufacturing operations that have no detrimental effect to the climate situation, by 2025.

The company has also said that between 2019 and 2021, it would have produced five fully electric cars, three of which will be from Volvo and two from Polestar, which is currently the automaker’s performance arm. This confirms the earlier reported news that parent company, Geely, intends on turning Polestar into a separate brand that focuses on electrified global high-performance cars.

These five vehicles will be produced along with a range of petrol and diesel plug-in-hybrid and mild-hybrid 48-volt ones. And if it does manage to pull it off, it will make Volvo one of the first automakers to offer some form of electrification in its entire product portfolio.

This announcement signals an end to non-hybrid petrol and diesel powered Volvo vehicles, which is a significant and drastic shift in the current mindset. If Volvo does manage to keep its word, this could spur more automakers to join the bandwagon and push for a higher production volume of electrified vehicles.

That said, until there is a proper infrastructure in place around the world, it will take quite a while before electric vehicles win over the hearts and minds of people, globally. And as such, Volvo is taking a huge gamble by taking such a move, in such a short timeframe. If it doesn’t pay off for the Swedish marque, the automaker could find itself in a very tough situation.

DRB-HICOM Berhad has officially signed an agreement with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) for the latter to take 49.9% equity in Proton Holdings Berhad. At the same time, it also sold its stake in Lotus Advance Technology Sdn Bhd to ZGH and Etika Automotive Sdn Bhd.

The signing was presided over by Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, along with DRB-HICOM Chairman, Brig. Gen. (K) Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil and ZGH Chairman, Li Shufu. DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar signed on behalf of the Group while An Conghui, President and CEO of Geely Auto Group did the honours for ZGH.

Speaking of the signing, DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar, said, “ZGH, which also owns Sweden’s Volvo Cars, The London Taxi Company and the Geely car brand, is the right partner for PROTON. Their success with Volvo and The London Taxi Company, and of course their own Geely marque shows their capability both as a bona-fide carmaker and as a partner. With ZGH on board, PROTON can now eye the huge ASEAN passenger car market with renewed confidence.”

Geely, has big plans for Proton because it plans to make the national automaker its ASEAN manufacturing hub for right-hand-drive cars. This will allow Proton access to areas it found difficult to penetrate before as well as enable it to have a better investment for R&D purposes.

Geely is also the parent company of Volvo, which it acquired in 2010 much to the surprise of many. After a significant investment in the ailing automaker’s business, Geely helped turn the Swedish marque’s fortunes around. In 2016, Volvo recorded an operating profit of $1.25 billion (RM5.36 billion), the highest it has ever since it first started operating in 1927.

Despite the Chinese automaker’s significant stake in Proton, DRB-HICOM is still the majority shareholder and is confident that Proton’s future as a national automaker is secure and that we can expect things to improve further with Geely’s help.
Whether Volvo’s success rubs off on Proton remains to be seen, but we hope that platform and technology sharing does take place, which will enable Proton to offer its next generation of vehicles with Volvo engineered technology.

Changes are a foot at Volvo, according to an article on Auto Express. Apparently, Volvo’s parent company, Geely, wants Polestar (Volvo’s performance arm), to build electric sports cars. It has plans to rival the might and appeal that Volkswagen has enjoyed these past few years.

The article states that Geely wants Polestar to take on a sportier role, sort of what AMG is to Mercedes-Benz. It also wants Polestar to be the face of its Motorsports arm, fielding championship winning vehicles that bear the Volvo name.

Volvo’s SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) and CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) will probably be the platfroms used as the base for the development of these upcoming performance vehicles. That said, we might not have to wait too long for these vehicles to be launch, because word has it that the first of them should hit showroom floors later this year.

The SPA platform underpins the current XC60, XC90, V90 and S90 vehicles with more to follow. And for a while now, the Swedish automaker has been very vocal about producing more and more vehicles with some form of electrification in its propulsion system with the use of the SPA and CMA platforms. And as such, the latest task that has been handed to Polestar, falls in line with Volvo’s current business plan, only Polestar’s creations will be more powerful versions.

Geely acquired Volvo from Ford Motor Company in 2010 for $1.8 billion (RM7.68 billion), a lot less than the latter paid for it in 1999. Since the acquisition, the Swedish marque seems to be flourishing especially in Asia, where the brand has seen in an increase in demand for Volvo branded vehicles.

Source: Auto Express

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