You know 458, you know 9 1 1, but you know very little about lotus. This is not because we lack knowledge about cars, but only because we are too young.
Although Lotus is not as old as Mercedes-Benz, it is only one year since the birth of Ferrari. After 75 years of historical precipitation, the yellow logo "ACBC" of lotus is still shining. Now Lotus has completed the first attempt from pure performance to pure electric intelligence. Like Jobs and Zuckerberg, Lotus's achievements now come from the brave pioneering work of its founder Colin Chapman.
Believe me, when you conquer a very difficult task, the company of your girlfriend is likely to bring you great inspiration and courage. 1948, Colin Chapman built the first lotus racing car Mark 1, which was born in the garage of his girlfriend Heisel's house. Although this is just an engineering test vehicle that can't drive on the highway, it gives Chapman confidence to continue research and development.
Chapman officially retired from the Royal Air Force two years later. This experience, in his life resume, added the identity of a pilot after an engineer and a driver. It is this special experience that has laid a solid foundation for his research on aerodynamics, and also laid a good foundation for the future "flying on the ground" of Lutes' sports car. Also at 1950, Chapman returned to Norfolk and began to build the second test car Mark 2 belonging to Lotus. This is a sports car that can run fast on roads and racetracks, and this car has also been appreciated by a special buyer, that is, another legendary racing driver-mark ronson. Under the collision of two drivers' thoughts, their Lotus Mark 2 carried two dreams, and successfully pulled the lever in the Wrotham Cup that year to help mark ronson win the championship.
This time, after officially defeating Bugatti on the track, Chapman won Mark 3 after winning the race and helped the driver win the women's championship in the AMOC race at Silverstone. This experience is also closely related to Chapman's girlfriend, Heather, because this invincible female driver driving Mark 3 on the track is his girlfriend and future wife, Heather Williams.
A man wandering in the garage showed his most emotional side to his lover. Whether building a car for her or writing poems for her, it is the most romantic moment for a straight man in science and technology. This is definitely one of the important reasons that can support Chapman to establish Lotus Mechanical Engineering Company. 10 After the establishment of QianteSi, Chapman developed the world's first "single" all-hard-shell F 1 racing car-Type 25. This Type 25 is also the first F 1 annual manufacturer championship in the history of Lotus.
In addition to maintaining its popularity in the field of racing, Lotus also created the world's first active suspension system. The system uses a computer system to control the hydraulic pressure of the suspension, so it can keep the stability of the vehicle when turning, accelerating and braking. In the field of civil sports cars, the new Esprit-Esprit Turbo SE brought by Lotus in 1989 can provide 264 horsepower and the peak speed is 164 mph. Elan roadster released in the same year was equipped with an interactive front suspension arm for the first time, which effectively improved handling.
In the next 20 years, Lotus experienced many changes of ownership and even financial crisis, but still insisted on bringing Elise and many patents for materials and lightweight design worthy of collection and tasting. After entering the 2 1 century, Lotus embraced by Geely returned to the stage of rapid development. At this time, it is the time when new energy vehicles are booming. Lotus's first pure electric supercar Type 130 Evija came out, and it is still the lightest model in production cars. Emira, the last fuel sports car of Lotus, was officially released on 202 1, which is a very important time node for Lotus. Because the release of Emira also announced the end of the lotus fuel era.
The following year, Lotus's first electric SUV——Eletre, officially appeared in front of us. As the first model of Lotus pure electric performance car, it is not difficult to find that neither Porsche Taycan, which keeps the posture of sports car, nor Lamborghini Urus, which has the pedigree of fuel car, can form an absolute competitive relationship with it.
The smooth return to the luxury performance brand camp and Geely's empowerment are the credit of Eletre.
The low tide of Lotus brand is also the age when young fans in China are ignorant, so we only know its name but can't say it. It's really just because we're too young. Nowadays, the "ACBC" logo with black label on the yellow background of Lotus has become another symbol that can show the fun of performance after tricolor stripe, AMG and four-leaf clover. Clothes, hats and even stickers printed with it were snapped up by fans. Lotus can quickly become the heart of young users, not only because of the economy and R&D support brought by big brother Geely, but also because of Eletre, which represents the fun of pure electric driving.
9 15Ps horsepower, 985n·m, 2.95 seconds to break 100, from Lotus's Eletre, still released the brand's performance genes in the new energy era. As a pure electric vehicle, it is equipped with 1 12kW ternary lithium battery, which can provide the vehicle with a battery life of 650km. Thanks to the 800V high-voltage architecture charging system, the power can be charged from 10% to 80% in 20 minutes.
Born in 2 1 century, Eletre seems to have inherited the perceptual gene of founder Chapman, because it did not play cards steadily according to the modeling formula of electric vehicles, but continued to show its maverick side. We didn't see the iconic mesh grille of the traditional EV and the broken wind line across the front of the car. Eletre has rich aerodynamic design, aggressive angular and rib design, carbon fiber design of front lip and wheel brow, which is very tense. As the starting point of modeling design and the basis of displaying performance elements, the grille has not been ruthlessly castrated because of the electrification status of Eletre. In terms of functionality, it optimizes wind resistance by virtue of its active opening and closing characteristics.
Luxury and performance are two characteristics that contemporary Lotus has been pursuing. If you can get in the car of Eletre, you may feel the same as me: it is not only a performance SUV, but also a luxury SUV. Of course, the technical configuration performance of this car has also achieved enough heroism. When the vehicle starts, the 15. 1 inch OLED screen changes from almost parallel to vertical. Most functions of the lathe system can be adjusted within three touches. LED strip behind the screen can change its effect according to temperature, telephone and vehicle status, and it has become an important part of communication between people and vehicles.
Two NVIDIA chips with high computing power and more than 30 road condition collectors together constitute the hardware foundation of the vehicle driving assistance system. Lotus with a history of 75 years has caught up with the times in the direction of intelligence.
75 car owners successfully picked up their cars at the 75th anniversary celebration of Lotus.
On March 29th, Lotus Brand held Lotus Day in Shanghai. Brand activity is an anniversary celebration and a delivery ceremony, which belongs to the brand carnival of CP Lotus. In this activity, Lotus put forward a brand-new brand proposition: for the driver-everything for the driver.
During the event, jenson button, the legendary driver of F 1, became the owner of Lotus, officially "announced his comeback" and joined Lotus Driving and Control College.
As an old friend of the last race, I participated in the F 1 12 race in Jenson Barton and visited the track with many riders. He said: The new ELETRE has a very attractive appearance, and the driving experience of this pure electric SUV is completely comparable to that of traditional fuel vehicles.
At present, Lotus ELETRE is sold to consumers, and S+ and R+ versions are available. The prices of the two cars are 828,000 yuan and 6.5438+0.028 million yuan respectively.
In order to welcome his 75th anniversary carnival, Lotus officially delivered the car to 75 car owners in advance. At the same time, for new users, Lotus also brings more surprises. This time, Lotus officially said that it will continue to launch three pure electric vehicles before 2026, namely the electric four-door coupe with code name TYPE 133; A brand-new pure electric vehicle, code type134; A brand-new pure electric sports car, code name TYPE 135.
The roaring engine was replaced by a pure electric system, but Lotus's persistence and enthusiasm for performance have not changed. Under the empowerment of Geely, Lotus brought its first pure electric performance SUV——Eletre, which is a highlight of the brand's 75-year derivative process and the starting gun for Lotus to enter the new track. When I closed my pen and saw the cool body of Eletre, I thought of the logo 1 in the black and white photo. At the two ends of the 75-year history, they have different starting points. Mark 1 is a work of genius and sensibility, and it is the starting point of the lotus brand. Eletre is an arm to embrace the new energy wave, and it is also a sign that Lotus has returned to the public's field of vision.
This article comes from the author of Kinetic Energy in Gao Hao, Che Yi, and the copyright belongs to the author. Please contact the author in any form. The content only represents the author's point of view and has nothing to do with the car reform.