Weigh to go

Lotus Engineering is developing a composite family hatchback that will weigh around a third less than conventional cars, and could be mass produced.

The automotive consultant is working with German firm Jacob Composite to produce the car, which will have a chassis structure and body panels produced predominantly from composites.

Composites are tough but lightweight, improving fuel efficiency and performance. But the materials are costly and difficult to manufacture, limiting their use to expensive, low-volume vehicles such as sports cars.

Cost-effective

Lotus claims the car, being developed under the Ecolite (Efficient composites, lightweight and thermoformed) programme, will be cost-effective enough for production volumes of between 30,000 and 50,000.

The team ultimately hopes to achieve at least a 30 per cent weight reduction compared to a typical 1,200kg steel-bodied hatchback, said Jason Rowe, Lotus chief materials engineer. This would give the car a weight of around 840kg.

‘When we started the project we based it around an Elise derivative, and we were looking to get around a 30 per cent saving in weight against that. I would expect at least 30 per cent against a steelbodied car, bearing in mind that the Elise already has an aluminium structure and a composite shell,’ he said.