Troubled Lotus shows off wedge-like vision for an EV sportscar

Earlier today, Lotus Cars revealed its idea of an “intelligent performance vehicle.” The wedge-shaped concept, called Theory 1, is meant to be Lotus’ new design manifesto for all its future cars and combines some eye-popping technical specs along with an adaptive driving experience that uses haptics and binaural sound to enhance driver feedback.

With Theory 1, we’ve built on everything Lotus has achieved so far in its 76-year history, to push the boundaries for what it means to drive a performance vehicle. We want to demonstrate that you don’t need to compromise—with both digital and analog capabilities working harmoniously in the future car. In doing this, we are able to bring drivers the best possible immersive driving experience with raw emotion, functionality and connectivity, at the core,” said Ben Payne, vice president of design at Lotus Group.

In profile, the Theory 1 has more than a little resemblance to the Lamborghini Huracan, although that impression starts to fade as you see the car from other angles. The doors are something entirely new. Forget butterflies, dihedrals, or even gull wings; here, they open in reverse, allowing the occupants to step right into the car. The new design also allows the doors to open even in the tightest of parking spaces.

A lot of aerodynamic work has gone into the car’s shape. At the front, there’s a diffuser built into the nose, as well as air curtains to control the flow around the sides. The underbody is sculpted to channel the air, similar to a Formula 1 car—Lotus did pioneer the use of ground effect in the sport in the 1970s, after all.

Somewhere inside the Theory 1’s chassis is a 70 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which, together with the motor, is designed as a fully stressed component of the chassis, again taking a page from the Big Book of Team Lotus F1 Innovations, as Lotus introduced the practice of using an engine as a stressed member with the revolutionary Type 49.

Like that F1 car and virtually every one ever since, the Theory 1’s suspension is directly connected to this assembly as opposed to there being a subframe. And the rear wing is also mounted directly to this assembly, transferring its load straight through to the suspension. Power output is a heady 987 hp (736 kW), which sounds like a lot but pales compared to Lotus’ first electric supercar, the 1,971 hp (1,470 kW) Evija.

Lotuswear

The Theory 1 features something new called Lotuswear, which thankfully is not a capsule collection of Lotus-branded jumpsuits that are meant to be worn while driving. Rather, Lotus says it’s an “immersive” system that aims to connect the driver and passengers closer with the road, while personalizing the driving experience. Oh, and did we mention the Theory 1 is a three-seater, like the McLaren F1?

The seats are clad in an “adaptive soft and lightweight robotic textile” from a company called MotorSkins, that communicates with the occupants, using inflatable pods in the seats and steering wheel that can provide haptic feedback. The seats also feature 3D-printed lattice headrests that also include binaural speakers that can either enhance the car’s speed sounds or work as noise-cancelling speakers to make road and wind noise go away.

Despite Theory 1 being a sportscar, there’s a full sensor suite for autonomous driving, including four lidar sensors, six HD cameras, plus radar and ultrasonics, all of which feed into an Nvidia Drive car computer.

Will it happen?

For now, Theory 1 is mostly a way for Lotus to show off the various technologies it’s working on, with no production intent. Following its purchase by China’s Geely Group in 2017, Lotus got to work on four new vehicle platforms, three of which—the Evija, the Emira, and the EV platform used by the Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan—have now appeared. (The fourth, an EV sportscar meant to be developed together with Alpine, was abandoned last year.) So it needs an electric sportscar that’s much cheaper than the $2.3 million Evija, even if Theory 1 isn’t quite that car.

But Geely’s ownership of Lotus has not been quite the golden ticket some of us had hoped. The Eletre SUV was met with mixed reviews and plenty of people questioning whether it really deserved to wear the Lotus badge, a brand characterized by the slogan “simplify and add lightness.” Worse yet, the Eletre and Emeya are built in China, which means that they’re subject to massive import tariffs in the US and European Union that have cratered the brand’s sales forecasts. With sales in China similarly disappointing, some are already questioning whether Geely might offload Lotus entirely.