Russell Carr, the design director at Lotus, shares insights on the brand's design philosophy and future direction during a lively conversation at a London event. He discusses the importance of lightweight design, aerodynamics, and how Lotus is adapting to electric vehicle technology while maintaining its core values. Carr also highlights the collaborative efforts between design and engineering teams and the commitment to producing unique, high-performance vehicles. The episode offers a glimpse into Lotus's future projects and the significance of design in attracting customers.
In this week's bonus episode of the Autocar podcast, Autocar Meets Russell Carr, design director at Lotus.
Talking at an event in London to Autocar's editor-at-large Matt Prior, the pair discuss lightweight design in an electric age, what's going on at Hethel, and how Lotus fits into a multinational company like Geely.
The regular My Week In Cars podcast will also be with you throughout Christmas. If you subscribe to the feed you'll never miss one. And if you could review and share we'd appreciate it more than you know.
"[171.1s] El EVO tiene una muy especial car, por supuesto."
"EVO" is a nickname for the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, a sporty car that many people like because it’s fast and can handle well on different roads. It has a turbo engine that gives it extra power.
The "EVO" refers to the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, a high‑performance rally‑derived sports sedan known for its turbocharged flat‑four engine and all‑wheel drive. It has been a popular choice among enthusiasts for its balance of power, handling, and everyday usability.
"[492.4s] ...hand in glove with a [496.7s] Lotus..."
Lotus makes sports cars that are very light and fast. They work closely with designers and engineers to make sure the cars handle well and are easy to drive.
Lotus is a British automotive manufacturer known for producing lightweight, high-performance sports cars and racing vehicles. The company emphasizes engineering simplicity and agility, often collaborating closely with designers and engineers to create cars that excel in handling and speed.
"[572.8s] Tell us about Lotus's commitment to light weight design and how that weighs in with battery electric vehicles"
Making a car lighter means it can go faster and use less energy. Engineers cut out unnecessary weight while keeping the car strong.
Lightweight design refers to engineering vehicles with minimal mass, improving performance, efficiency, and handling by reducing the amount of material used.
"when we see you know high performance hybrid performance cars and where we are"
It’s a car that uses both gasoline and electric power to go fast but also save gas. The electric part helps it accelerate quickly, and the gasoline engine keeps it running long distances.
A high performance hybrid is a vehicle that combines an internal combustion engine with electric motors to deliver strong acceleration and power while improving fuel efficiency.
"the right materials building a car like we have with the via with a carbon fiber panels helps keep the mass down"
These are panels made from a special material that’s very light and strong. Using them in a car helps it weigh less, which makes it faster and more efficient.
Carbon fiber panels are lightweight, high-strength components made from carbon fibers embedded in a resin matrix. They reduce vehicle weight while maintaining structural rigidity.
"[832.6s] an Audi A4 event launched some time ago they said 60% of the customers put designers the first reason they were buying that car and it strikes it you"
The Audi A4 is a popular car that sits between a small sedan and a larger luxury model, offering good performance and a comfortable ride.
The Audi A4 is a compact executive car produced by the German automaker Audi, known for its balanced handling and upscale interior.
"[1202.7s] just tell me what it is so theory one is is this concept car it's really a statement of intent"
Theory One is a prototype car made to show what the company thinks future sports cars will look like. It helps designers and engineers test new ideas before they go into production.
Theory One is a concept car project that serves as a design and engineering showcase, illustrating the future direction of a manufacturer's sports cars. It demonstrates new styling cues, technology integration, and performance goals that may influence production models.
"Steve also chats to Pat Simmons executive engineering consultant at the new Cadillac F1 team that's on Wednesday the 24th of December"
Cadillac makes fancy cars that are usually more expensive and have a lot of technology. They’re part of the big American car company General Motors.
Cadillac is an American luxury automobile brand owned by General Motors, known for its high-end vehicles and recent ventures into electric and autonomous technology.
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Nijo, me asustaste, ¿qué se te quedó? Nada, bolita. Ya volví con las compras. ¿Cómo conseguiste todo tan rápido? Fasil. Fui a Fred Meyer. Tiene nuestros productos de siempre y a muy buen precio. Incluso el queso cotija. Y la harina masa. Yes. Clavos, tomatillos verdes, platanos maduros. Check, check y check. En Fred Meyer, consigues tus productos de calidad para las recetas familiares de estas fiestas a precios bajos en cada pasillo. Fred Meyer, fresh para todos.
Hola a AutoCarMeets, un episodio de AutoCar Podcast. Brutado en una asociación con Anderson, el british designer EV Charging Company, visita Anderson-EV.com
para más detalles de sus cargos, con el servicio de service y más allá.
Yo soy Matt Pryer, y este día estoy adonado por AutoCar Design Director en Lotus. Tengo un minuto con él con él en el London evento,
así que con él con un poco de background noise, donde hablamos de los tradiciones de Lotus Values Live-On,
los Lotus Fits en el grupo de Gili, ¿qué es lo que ha pasado en Hethl y más allá?
Soy Delighted para decir que estoy adonado por AutoCar Design Director de Lotus Gas,
¿Qué es esto? ¿Qué es esto? ¿Qué es esto?
En Picadilly, tenemos un evento fantástico, en la noche de los Lotus DLSHIs,
el trabajo de los DLSH, así que es muy emocionante.
En la zona donde está, es en Irvaya, ¿qué es lo que hablamos?
En tu perspectiva, creo que sabemos cómo es más fácil de eso,
en la performance de este tipo de cosas como eso, pero ¿cómo te acuerdas de designar el car like that?
El EVO tiene una muy especial car, por supuesto.
Nosotros estamos muy cansados como un diseño de design,
tenemos un diseño de transporte que es muy rica,
pero para diseñar el car es una de las experiencias de la vida y la experiencia de la vida.
Entonces, puedes apreciar algo como eso, con una explosión de creatividad,
pero también con la variedad de trepidación, porque tienes que saber que es muy especial.
Es que la mejor persona es el mejor.
Es que cada uno de los espectadores,
es una cabre de barribas,
es que cada uno de los espectadores
la la mejor persona es el mejor.
Entonces, hay un gran de responsabilidad de un nuevo diseño
que se deshace algo así.
Pero, por lo tanto,
se deshazan en una discusión de fútbol y,
cuando lo hacemos,
tenemos que hacer un favor
de que nosotros lo van a dar a un lado
para ver las cosas en el camino.
de la parte y nosotros generamos, ya sabes,
estamos viendo en la materia de sol,
estamos viendo en documentación y intervíos
que Colin Chapman did,
y por lo tanto, estamos haciendo
algo que es apropiado para los autos.
Y, obviamente, vamos a hacer algo relevantes para hoy,
vamos a hacer algo muy importante.
Pero, por ser honesto, hay muchas cosas que he dicho
que es filosofía, que aún es relevantes para hoy.
He dicho,
que vamos a poner el fundo de motor,
pues, vamos a hacer eso, ¿no?
y también hoy con los varios carcámenes que están haciendo
los productes normales,
queremos hacer algo que es muy especial en ese aspecto.
Él dice que queremos hacer carcámenes que son
diferentes, responsables y eficientes.
Pues, de course, vamos a hacer eso,
pues, si es el electric car,
la eficiencia es ganar más de la raíz,
ganar más performance.
En ese carque,
espérate,
estamos muy eficientes para ese carque de caro,
porque es el carbón 5 de construcción,
y porque nosotros, como un diseño de funcionamiento de la
ingeniería,
es que el carbón es muy grande,
es sobre todo el mecánico, etcétera.
Él dice que el customer
quiere algo diferente,
algo interesante,
así que vamos a probar ese carcón,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y,
cuando es algo diferente perroidedor,
se apet reelas todo,
es creo que siempre está mejor que el carcón Esmeral pillar
a lo mejor para ver?
Esta huracidad son el allemán por más.
Para que hayar un carcón,
en el huracidad, en el�.
Que hay otro nivel por hayar todo esto.
Sí, wallpaper por muy mayor que la par Simple Garza el carcón los
ucto seênio en el centro se rings alive.
en este caro, el frío terrible, que nos ha llegado con la porosidad de la tarila de la tarila.
¿Es que es una tarila terrible?
Pues es solo tarila porque ha habido por tantos años, así que me ha creado cuando me ha estado.
Pero es una idea de la tarila de la tarila de la tarila de la tarila.
Nosotros, la gran cosa para nosotros, era una parte diferente,
como la tarila de la tarila de la tarila de la tarila de la tarila.
Así que se ha quedado en el caro de la ciudad,
como se ve en natural formes cuando se han sido rodeado por la water o el agua.
Entonces, ese es un muy sculptural formado que cuando se muestra el caro,
el caro se muestra diferentes cosas que se muestra,
un poco de base por el caro, etcétera.
Y uno de tus amigos, Henry Catchball, muy muy muy muy,
se parece como un barbre de escultura.
Así que nos rodeamos eso y pretendíamos que nos pensamos...
Eso fue siempre la filosofía de Day 1.
Entonces, en el Chapman,
otra vez pensé que la rueda de la rueda es importante,
incluso en el 1970 se dice para la rueda.
Y tú puedes ver algunas de las formas en esa rueda
que son influenciadas por la rueda de las rueda clásicas de la rueda.
Es la forma de la rueda de la rueda de la rueda.
Y tienes estos prenses de muscular hortes,
que es muy grande en la rueda de la rueda,
porque puedes ver las ruedas de la rueda.
Eso puede haber en sea11, o 23 o a cacho 40,
pero es reeallujores en cada время en NLNPICA.
Si sí, les deberia mirar una opidora.
Pero, peacha, también la posibilidad de la rueda de la rueda
hacia la rueda es más grande en la rueda de las rueda de las ruedas de las ruedas de la rueda.
Pero juntar uno de los prenses más grave...
Toda otraMatria,
bueno.
así de que me preguntó.
Pero yo era, no sé, porque todo lo que me estaba viendo
Lo que vamos a pensar es que Sometimes it can be used as a turn of a
a derision or making things sound shallow and you know for well because you
work with many colleagues in design studios around the world.
We don't just sit there and draw pretty pictures of cars and then just go and
make it. We spend a lot of time agonizing to the engineers how can we make
this work trying to help them solve problems as well. You know we talk about all
those those technical things we try and work hand in glove with a
Lotus. So we're working with the aerodynamicists we're working with the
manufacturing engineers and it's really important to work hand in glove so
that's not really just styling we're we're designing the car with with the
engineers as well and you'll notice the change that in the sort of second
major change of a spree the piece of Stevens one the X 180's we're in
that's it it's his Lotus design and does it yes and presumably with a
battery electric car design the aerodynamics is much more important
because it plays a much bigger a much bigger effect on the cars overall
absolutely yeah no experience that working for a small startup company in
California who did an electric sports car with us many years ago and that was
the first time we realized the effect that aerodynamics has on defining the
range of the car so yeah it's the same principle whatever it is you know
reducing drag allows you to go fast from further basically in simple terms
and obviously downforce then allows you to go quick around the corners so
you're playing off the bout of what you you want in the particular character of
a car or the driving condition because you know you can even have the best
performance car but you don't necessarily want the best performance all the
time sometimes you're just trying to get somewhere and you're trying to get
there without using too much energy. Tell us about Lotus's commitment to
light weight design and how that weighs in with battery electric vehicles
because typically at the moment they are limited by some heavy
technology. Yeah I mean going back to Colin Chapman's
phrasing it's all about efficiency really so we just try and make the most
efficient master vehicle we possibly can we know you can't do a 600
kilo SUV with electric power on it but you can make sure you make sure it's
it's weight efficient via via there are other people who've done my performance
electric cars we're lighter than those and to be honest the gap between now
when we see you know high performance hybrid performance cars and where we are
with electric is getting closer and closer it's just one of those things but you
can make sure you keep the car compact which keeps the mass down you use
the right materials building a car like we have with the via with a carbon
fiber monococcal carbon fiber panels helps keep the mass down you can be
just smart at an engineering level to make sure you don't put brackets on
brackets and brackets which is sometimes what what happens in vehicles you
can make sure you make efficiency in the way you you engineer the car as
well so it's still yet really important to Lotus and as I say those values which
perhaps were very specific to Colin Chapman with road cars all those years
ago they're more and more relevant to everybody now because everyone wants
efficiency in terms of giving you performance and range but also efficiency
in materials and how you build it because you're obviously thinking about not
wasting materials economically but also for my so the ecological stamp on
just tell us how because I think some of our some of the reader in the
listener will know Lotus being based at Ethel and that being the core of it
but not necessarily knowing about the larger company how does your work at
Ethel fit in with you've got engineering centers in commentary in the UK
and in Germany as well and then Geely Group in China how does it all fit in
with what you do as a designer yeah well we work as a global entity we have
areas of specialism around the world we have extra resource around the world as
you quite rightly say we've got engineering capability sitting in in Europe
we've got engineering capability in China we've got a design studio in
commentary as well and so we just work collaboratively the same as a lot of
other major companies do you know some of the big German companies have got
facilities around the world so we work collaboratively you know up till this
point certainly we've we've had the specialism on sports cars from
from design right the way through to engineering and obviously manufacture but
so as time goes on we're obviously going to be using the best of the best within
the group globally and there's certainly certain technologies within the
group which perhaps don't sit in Ethel and why would you invest in them again
you just pull down on those but make sure you you retain the core the core skills
and the key actually Ethel they are really important to you and you can it's
my understanding right that you can take certain technologies from elsewhere
within the group and put a very low to slumped absolutely yeah I mean all the
cars you see in the showroom here have all been very tailored towards
the list it's not what we've taken you know a big chunk of something and
just put a different casing on it they've all been tailored for for
Lotus use to a larger or lesser extent basically so that's why they all
drive very differently from anything else within the group which is
important and obviously we play a part in design because the first thing that
captures anyone is what they see shallows that name be but you know we've
got tonight here we've got Gavin Kershaw you know who's famous for doing all
their attributes and riding handling development and he can he can put that
final feel on it which is the way the car connects with you how it feels to
drive which is vicious so yeah yeah but design is yeah but once I think
an Audi A4 event launched some time ago they said 60% of the customers put
designers the first reason they were buying that car and it strikes it you
tell me but it seems that designers only ever become more important since
especially with people some people saying rightly or wrongly that perhaps cars
get a bit more semi as they are all electric about I think it's true I mean
we say semi I think the reality is cars have just got overall very good
across the board so one other way you can separate out different brands
attract customers we always remind ourselves particularly the sports car no one
needs a sports car you have to make them want it and so yeah you use all the
tricks you've got to seduce them into buying it and the way it looks is
definitely a big part of it and when I say the way it's part of what we do but
it's obviously it's everything physical but all the senses really because it's
what it looks on the outside it's what it looks on the inside it's the touch of
things and we work really closely with obviously technical people on that
side of things choice of materials you know we influence as well we work
closely with the engineers in terms of how switches and things be all as
well so not necessarily always leading that operation what we have a we have
that an opinion on that so you know we get to show you the car so the thing
where we say you know it plays a more important part way things are that it's
like that in life and so many things isn't it when you first meet a person
for the first time you make certain judgments by the way that they look as
well you know whether or not you're going to feel comfortable with them one
way or another so I think it's it's just nature really isn't it please do you
still work on as you mentioned you you worked on the Tesla roaster which
Lotus was very involved in is Lotus still doing work for other OEMs as well
a used a used an involved in yeah very much so I mean probably less so
than when I first joined the company when I first joined the company it was
very much fifty fifty doing third party work and doing Lotus work probably
around ten fifteen years ago we focused more on our own products that there
was enough to do on that but since then we've been doing work for third
parties sometimes there's this work for third parties when I say doing
doing work for other people some is for the studio but also obviously from
an engineering side of things some of that is work within the group and some
of it is for other companies outside when it's a startup company or an
existing OEM so we're busy at the moment talking to lots of people about
potential products and you know a lot of people come because they're
attracted by something that is in the latest product as well and they
obviously want to gain some of that knowledge some of that learning maybe if
it's a startup you know they think there's an opportunity that they can
make some jumps in the process because they're obviously tying into people
who've done it before basically and we understand the supply chain we
understand the engineering requirements the legalities all those things as
well I don't like to ask but I'm obliged to ask how things are at
Hethel we've seen in the news recently some losses and stuff like that but I
suppose the reader would like to be reassured that things are going to be
all right well there's an absolute commitment to Hethel it's very clear
within the company that Hethel is the home of Lotus so we've got an
absolute commitment we know what we're going to be making car-wise from from
the factory over the next few years so that's very clear I can tell you we're
all very busy at the moment we're all we're all complaining because we're too
busy at the moment so that's good as well so I think if you've got a
commitment to build the cars and you've got a sense that you're fully occupied
that that's a pretty reassuring feeling anyway but yeah and how much can you tell
me about the cars you are going to be making coming up well we can never
we can never tell you about what we're doing in the future but we're obviously
working on a range of things we're we're working on completely new
products thinking about it conceptualising about it but also obviously in
more short term we obviously work on things to keep what we've got
already relevant in the marketplace and at the moment we're very lucky we've
got a new range of vehicles which is very fresh in the market whether or not
you're talking about the email, the electro, the amera or obviously the
aviary as well but we're obviously very mindful we need to keep working on
those cars and offer things that are fresh to the customer so we're busy
we're busy doing that stuff for us as well the aviary keeps us occupied
because we do a second level of design on on that car as well we have
some really interesting customers and the service we offer is to
bespoke it for them so some customers will come in and say yeah I'm
very happy with that green I'll just choose you know black leather or tan leather
can I have it with a yellow stitch or whatever some customers come in and go
what I'd really like is something like this can you do that and we're working
with a really interesting customer moment where we're doing a very special
paint effects the way the paint is applied is not conventional there's some
livery elements in it the interior he's got a very specific way of applying
the trim and the color in it so that in itself is obviously a mini project
within that car as well so there's some other things that we're working on
and you've seen obviously we do we do special celebration models as well we
do the amera to celebrate the astonishing year that Jim Clark had in 1965
he just won everything and there was the winning motor racing pretty much so
we uh we thought it was appropriate to celebrate that year and finally just
remind me and the listener about the theory one concept which we saw earlier this year I think
just tell me what it is so theory one is is this concept car it's really a statement of intent
of latest values and it's also a sign of what a future sports car could be
but certainly the things we've been talking about about you know efficiency in terms of
number of materials there's a philosophy behind there about using a minimal number of materials 10
major materials there's a philosophy about aerodynamic efficiency which is based on then
and of course it's still a car which is about driving dynamics and it's looking at an
electric future as well so it's very much a focus point for everybody who works at
latest to remind them what latest values are and what we could be doing at the future super
muscle car thanks so much for joining us pleasure thank you for joining me Steve Cropley and I
will be back on Wednesday with our next installment of the My Weekend Cars podcast and indeed that's
a Christmas special in which Steve also chats to Pat Simmons executive engineering consultant at the
new Cadillac F1 team that's on Wednesday the 24th of December meanwhile thanks to our sponsors
Addison makers of designer EV chargers visit addison-evi.com for more
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