Paris 2010: Lotus Elise

Continuing the Lotus revamp is this new Elise concept. The car is not due until 2015 so there’s a whole heap of spy shots, testing images and information to come. For now, though, we can tell you the car will be powered by a 320PS 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine and with a very light 1095kg to shift around the new Elise is sure to build on the current model’s razor sharp handling prowess.

Lotus say the new Elise do the 100km/h sprint in 4.3 seconds and will have a top speed of 270km/h. The interior pics supplied are just renderings at this stage, but you can see enough to know it’s the bare essentials only, albeit presented in a slightly more upmarket finish than the current Elise.

Lotus CEO, Dany Bahar, hopes the all-new model wll attract an all new generation to his brand, “The design of the Elise 2015 is perfect for the target market, it’s young, strong, confident, verging on ruthless, it mirrors the engineering and technology. It’s the next generation Elise for a new generation of Lotus drivers.”

More pics, video and official press release are available after the break.

Lotus Elise 2015: The Vision

The Grown Up

Oh yes, here it is! There’s still room for the Elise at Lotus but what a difference a decade or two makes. The Elise due for release in 2015 is a sexy, agile beast of a car. Finally the Elise comes of age.

Aesthetically it’s definitely pleasing to the eye, it’s bold directional body gives you subtle hints of the Elise of old so it still seems a touch familiar but at the same time, it couldn’t be more different.

Perhaps a small example of how the car has changed would help. Aside from strong graphic styling, the practicality of the car has had a major overhaul too with sizeable improvements made to the ingress and egress – in simple terms, no more acrobatics but still all the fun you expect from the Elise.

Dany Bahar, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus, said: “We worked very hard on getting the Elise 2015 exactly right, it’s our entry level car so it needs to give a proper introduction to the Lotus driving experience.”

“The Elise you can buy now is still a fantastic car, make no mistake, Lotus remain very proud of it, but this is a natural progression for us moving forward. The Elise 2015 will also be class-leading in terms of performance and efficiency but it will do more than that it will take the Elise model to the forefront of its class across the board.”

“The design of the Elise 2015 is perfect for the target market, it’s young, strong, confident, verging on ruthless, it mirrors the engineering and technology. It’s the next generation Elise for a new generation of Lotus drivers.”

Fear not though, despite the dramatic upgrades the Elise 2015 has lost none of the cheeky charm that made the two-seater sports car famous, it still retains performance through lightweight and handles like a dream – albeit a quite aggressive and tension filled dream. With a 2.0 litre inline 4 pressure charged engine delivering up to 320 PS, the Elise 2015 should reach 0-100kph in under 4.5 seconds.

The Elise 2015, proving great things come to those who wait.

Elise 2015 Specification

Layout: 2 seater, mid-engined, rear wheel drive
Engine: Petrol with start/stop option
Hybrid technology: Mild hybrid, i.e. start/stop technology
Cylinder: 4
Capacity: 2.0 litre
Power/Torque: 320 PS / 330 Nm
Rev limit: 7,800 rpm
0-100 km/h: 4.3 seconds
Top speed: 270 km/h
CO2 approx (CO2/km): 150 g/km*
Weight: 1,095 kg
Seats: 2
Transmission: 6 Speed Manual, DCT optional
Drive: RWD
Start of production: Early 2015
Enters the market: Spring 2015
Price indication: Circa £35,000

*With new technology