Lotus Engineering

Troubled British automaker Lotus is getting a second infusion of cash following a 100-million-pound ($161.5-million) investment by its parent company DRB-Hicom that was made in August. The substantially smaller investment, a mere 10 million pounds ($16.2 million), comes from the British government's Regional Growth Fund.

Of the many motorsport disciplines in which Lotus is competing these days and will be in the near future, the British Touring Car Championship isn't one of them. And of all the manufacturers taking part in the BTCC, Lotus isn't among them. Which could be why race organizers have solicited the services of the Norfolk, England-based engineering consultancy in regulating the performance between the various

Lotus Evora 414E Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

Lotus Engineering has reached an agreement with the Spanish Fagor Ederlan Group to develop and produce a small engine for use as a range extender in electric vehicles – a system similar to that found in the Chevrolet Volt. Lotus first showed its 1.2-liter inline-three engine at the Geneva Motor Show

The city of London hopes to have a fleet of zero emission fuel cell-powered taxicabs in service in time for the 2012 summer Olympic games. The first prototype, built by Lotus Engineering with a consortium of other companies, was unveiled yesterday at the city hall.

If you have ever ridden in or driven any Lotus product produced in the last four decades, you have experienced the handiwork of Roger Becker. Becker has been the director of vehicle engineering at Lotus for more than two decades and has one of the most finely calibrated backsides in the business. However, after 44 years at Lotus, the time has come for Becker to slip off into retirement.

Robert Hentschel (L) and Paul Newsome (R)

The Lotus ethos has always been about efficient performance. "Simplicate, and add lightness" is an oft-echoed mantra coined by founder Colin Chapman. While the company is most known for its sports cars and racing endeavors, it's got a history of engineering for hire, as well. Embracing a definition of high performance that has protracted to include alternative propulsion technologies, Lotus has brought its experience to bear for series hybrids.

Next week at the Geneva Motor Show, Lotus Engineering will unveil its Omnivore concept engine. As the name implies, the Omnivore is designed to consume whatever is fed to it. The Omnivore is a flex fuel engine that is designed to extract the maximum amount of work regardless of what type of fuel is used. One of the main issues with flex-fuel engines is that the various fuels have different combustion characteristics (burn rates,

Autocar is reporting that the compact Jaguar XE sports car due in about two years time will be based on a shortened version of the XK's extruded and cast aluminum frame. The dimensions are supposedly going to challenge those of the Mercedes SLK, and that narrower chassis created for the XE could then be lengthened something that would "compete in the compact premium segment."

Lotus Engineering has been working on a wide variety of alternative drive technologies over the past decade, helping many client automakers develop electric and hybrid vehicles as well as more efficient internal combustion engines. This week, the UK government offered up £2.3 billion in loan guarantees to automakers, and tied the money to carbon-reducing initiatives.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Kia Soul

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the EVE Hybrid technology demonstrator.

Lotus Engineering has agreed to help Chinese car company Jinhua Youngman develop a range of cars under a new brand over the next five years.

Now this is what we call an upgrade: NC State University's Insight Racing team has scored a new set of wheels for the upcoming 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge. The team's Chevrol