World’s Only Eco Elise is Cradle to Cradle Green
January 1, 2009 by admin
This is the world’s only Eco Elise – a testbed research vehicle for Lotus, a four-wheeled laboratory to help the company make cleaner, greener cars. It’s an Elise that’s become a friend of the earth.
Lotus unveiled its “Eco Elise” at British International Motor Showin July. The primary innovation is the use of hemp and other ethically farmed renewable crops for body panels, seats, and carpets. Paints are all water-based. For body components, the hemp material is used with a polyester resin to form a hybrid composite. The hemp hard top on the Eco Elise has two flexible solar panels neatly embedded in the roof, contributing power to the electrical systems and saving energy that would otherwise be drained from the engine.
This explains why the Eco Elise has 1950s sludge-beige tweedalike wool covering the steering wheel boss, gearlever gaiter and slimline seat shells. Two solar panels are built into the fixed hemp hard top, while the front clamshell, front access panel and rear spoiler are also made of hemp, the exposed and unpainted brown stripe giving a clue that these aren’t ordinary fibreglass Elise panels.
And rather than concentrating on tailpipe emissions or mpg figures, Lotus is taking an holistic approach to the Eco Elise. The shockingly brown interior trim is made from biodegradable wool and hemp – an indication of how Hethel’s engineers are applying equally clever thinking to the very core of its popular Elise roadster.
How is the Lotus Eco Elise Green?
It’s all about cradle-to-grave greenness, so the paint, primer and lacquer are entirely water-based products from paint giant Du Pont.
Many of the body panels are made from hemp instead of harmful fibreglass, and even more of the exterior could have been made of the stuff had Lotus not run out of time before the Eco Elise’s debut at the 2008 London motor show. Hethel made the most complicated panels first (the rear spoiler and front clamshell) so it reckons the rest of the bodywork should be a doddle.
Lotus also rightly points out that local sourcing and cutting air miles is a crucial part of minimising a car’s carbon footprint, so the hemp is locally produced in East Anglia.
Lotus says this research project is about whole-life responsibility more than tailpipe emissions, but the Eco Elise is still 12g/km cleaner at 184g/km than the regular S. No complete official figures have been issued yet.
The Eco Elise is also 32kg lighter than the standard Elise S – for the holy trinity of better handling, performance and economy. The diet programme includes:
- Lightweight alloys cut 15.8kg from the kerbweight
- Alpine stereo saves 1.5kg over regular item
- Each seat weighs 500g less than standard Probax items
The list goes on and on. Lotus’s Hethel HQ has been to boot camp, too, cutting its appetite for electricity (-14%), gas (-30%) and water (-11%) in 2007 from the previous year, while three on-site wind turbines will be operating within the next 18 months and supply Lotus with all its electricity needs.
Is the performance down?
Most of the clever tech comes in the manufacturing stage, so you’re left to get on and drive. Ignore the opinion-dividing woollen seats and sissal front-door-mat carpets and it’s pure Elise.
It uses the detuned 1.8-litre Toyota engine from the Elise S, producing an identical 134bhp and 127lb ft – so it doesn’t feel especially fast until you rev it hard. You miss you out on the Elise R’s 189bhp hit and its ballistic transformation from roadster to rocket as it comes on cam, but it remains a brilliant, simple-thrills sports car.
Final verdict
Overall the Eco Elise is brilliant. Lotus claims that some of the tech is near production ready – the water-based primers and lacquers should be ready by the end of 2009 (water-based paint is already used at Hethel), the lightweight wheels are available now and only the hemp body panels and solar panels require more testing with production ‘a few years away’.
Let’s just hope they make some of this eco tech standard fit, rather than reserving it for a special, premium-cost green special as most mainstream manufacturers have chosen to do. The whole sports car fraternity deserves this kind of fresh thinking, not just those with more cash to spend.
Statistics
How much? £26,000
On sale in the UK: 2009 (for water-based primer and lacquer)
Engine: 1794cc 4cyl, 134bhp @ 6200rpm, 127lb ft @ 4200rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 127mph, 5.8sec, 34mpg (est), 184g/km
How heavy / made of? 828kg/ Aluminium and hemp
How big (length/width/height in mm)? 3785/1719/1117
via MotorsGreen
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!