Lotus Engineering is the internationally renowned consultancy division of Group Lotus, providing a comprehensive range of technical services to many of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers and suppliers.
Committed to driving forward technology with precision and passion, Lotus Engineering is a global business which continues to spearhead research into areas such as advanced powertrains, lightweight materials, and ride and handling optimisation. It all starts with the DNA of a Lotus car; the Lotus Engineering team is focused on leveraging what is already being developed for Lotus cars, with the constant demand for innovation at the heart of its work.
Engineering excellence at Lotus has always been expressed through four core competencies – exceptional chassis and vehicle dynamics, a lightweight design, and overall aerodynamic efficiency. Every Lotus car must have these, and the expertise that Lotus Engineering can offer to third-party clients has always been driven by that trio. That will never change.
Today the technology portfolio of Lotus Engineering is categorised under four pillars:
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PLATFORMS: The commercialisation of Lotus’ vehicle architectures so other businesses can develop their own cars. Lotus has four unique platforms, three of which are fully electric, plus the chassis on which the petrol-powered Emira is built. In addition, what Lotus Engineering calls ‘legacy architectures’ – on which the Elise, Exige and Evora were built – are also available.
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CONTROL SYSTEMS: Lotus Engineering offers much of the technology that accompanies the platforms. Examples include various engine controllers, Lotus ACTIVE Valve TrainTM systems and components linked to Active Noise Control. It means the consultancy can help clients realise their new-product aspirations through an accelerated timescale and with reduced investment because much of the development work has already been done for them.
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DYNAMICS: The Lotus dynamics team knows the difference between a car that handles well, one that doesn’t, and all the nuances in between. This experience, and working in tandem with the client to meet its requirements, means Lotus Engineering can offer the full package of dynamics services, all the while ensuring that the product requirements are cascaded into technical targets that can be managed and tracked throughout the delivery programme.
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TECHNICAL SERVICES: This pillar encompasses everything else that Lotus Engineering can offer. That ranges from intelligent design and product concept development, to proof-of-concept, validation work, attribute development and testing. The Hethel site – just to the south of Norwich, in Norfolk, UK – even has its own 2.2-mile test track for dynamic evaluation.
While the automotive industry is the heartland of Lotus Engineering, as a consultancy with more than 40 years of experience its design excellence and problem-solving expertise have been used by clients from many other industries. These have included elite sporting performance, aerospace, boat-building, medical research, furniture and much more besides.
“As an engineering consultancy and manufacturer of performance cars designed to excite, our breadth of technical knowledge and understanding is unrivalled,” commented Mark Stringer, Commercial Director, Lotus Engineering.
“Although Lotus cars are created for pure-bred thrills on the road and track, our clients often want our expertise in other areas. As the world moves to an electrified future, our services, technologies and manufacturing capabilities make us unique.”
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