This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Assembly Magazine logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Assembly Magazine logo
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
    • Archives
    • Specs Book
    • How-To-Guide
    • Buyers Guide
  • Exclusives
    • Plant of the Year
      • About Plant of the Year
      • Nomination Form
    • Capital Spending
    • State of the Profession
  • Industries
    • Aerospace
    • Appliance
    • Automotive
    • Medical Devices
    • DFMA Assembly
    • Green Manufacturing
    • Lean Manufacturing
    • Electronics Assembly
    • Machinery Assembly
  • Technologies
    • Adhesives
    • Assembly Presses
    • Automated Assembly
    • Dispensing
    • Motion Control
    • Screwdriving and Riveting
    • Plastics Assembly
    • Robotics
    • Test and Inspection
    • Welding
    • Wire Processing
    • Workstations
  • Columns
    • Assembly in Action
    • Automation Profiles
    • Medical Device Assembly
    • On Campus
    • Shipulski on Design
    • The Editorial
    • XYZ
    • Moser on Manufacturing
    • 21st Century Assembly
    • Mind Your Ps and Qs
  • New Products
  • More
    • Web Exclusives
    • Classifieds
    • eNewsletter
    • Blog
    • Market Research
    • Store
    • Product Spotlight
    • White Papers
    • Integrated Showcase
    • Custom Content & Marketing Solutions
    • Monthly Quiz
    • Sponsored Insight
  • Multimedia
    • Assembly Radio
    • Assembly TV
    • Image Galleries
    • Webinars
    • Interactive Spotlights
    • eBooks
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • The Assembly Show
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
  • InfoCenters
    • Collaborative Robot Revolution
    • Factory of the Future
Home » Lotus Races to Tackle the Lightweight Challenge

Lotus Races to Tackle the Lightweight Challenge

August 6, 2008
Austin Weber
Reprints
During the 1960s and 1970s, Team Lotus (Hethel, England) was synonymous with cutting-edge racecars, innovative engineering ideas and world-champion drivers. Today, the company if developing lightweight sports cars by focusing on sustainable materials such as hemp.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Team Lotus (Hethel, England) was synonymous with cutting-edge racecars and innovative engineering ideas such as the monocoque chassis and ground effects. By focusing on aerodynamics and handling, rather than brute horsepower, the late Colin Chapman built lightweight grand prix-dominating cars for world-champion drivers such as Mario Andretti, Jimmy Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi, Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt.

Today, Lotus innovation is being applied to environmentally friendly sports cars, such as the Eco Elise. It features body panels and trim made from hemp, sisal and other sustainable materials. Using a “performance through light weight” philosophy, the Eco Elise weighs 71 pounds less than the standard Elise S.

“The reduction in mass improves the handling and braking performance, and also reduces the effort required to accelerate the car,” claims Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus. “The weight reduction philosophy has even extended to the audio system, with an exceptionally lightweight stereo and speaker system that weighs 3.3 pounds.” The vehicle also uses lightweight wheels that reduce the unsprung mass and contribute a weight savings of 35 pounds over the already super light Elise wheels.

Hemp fabrics are used as the primary material in the composite body panels and spoiler. “The renewable hemp has exceptional material properties that make for a very strong fiber,” says Kimberley. “Historically, hemp has been used in the manufacture of rope, illustrating the great strength of the material.”

Sisal is a another renewable crop that, like hemp, exhibits strong material properties. It was used for the carpets in the Eco Elise because it is a tough, abrasion-resistant material.

The hemp hard top on the Eco Elise has two flexible solar panels embedded in the roof, contributing power to the electrical systems and saving energy that would be drained from the engine. Hemp was also used to manufacture the car’s seats.

“An additional benefit of using hemp is that it is a natural resource that requires relatively low energy to manufacture and absorbs CO2 while growing as a plant through natural photosynthesis,” Kimberley points out. “This material is used with a polyester resin to form a hybrid composite. However, it is hoped that a fully recyclable composite resin will be viable in the near future.”

subscribe to assembly

Recent Articles by Austin Weber

Airbus harnesses automation to boost fuselage production

Colorado develops grid-storage battery technology

Auto Industry Drives New Vision Technology

Electric vehicle makers rethink assembly processes

2019 Assembly Plant of the Year: Refrigerator Production Heats Up at GE Appliances

Weber200
Austin has been senior editor for ASSEMBLY Magazine since September 1999. He has more than 21 years of b-to-b publishing experience and has written about a wide variety of manufacturing and engineering topics. Austin is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Related Articles

Plastic Helps Auto Engineers Tackle Weight Challenge

Toy Manufacturers Tackle Big Challenges

The Ultimate Lightweight Driving Machine?

The 5-Day Car Will Feature Lightweight Materials

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • Assembly eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • Mobile App

More Videos

Popular Stories

lordstown motors

Electric Truck Manufacturer Buys GM’s Lordstown Assembly Plant

Bobcat manufacturing

Bobcat Announces Manufacturing and Assembly Facility Upgrades

Wearable Device 11-27

Wearable Lets Users Control IoT-Enabled Devices With Brain Waves

Breaking and Industry News

Airstream Manufacturing Expands With $50 Million Factory

Rayovac 11-20

Energizer Moving VT Battery Manufacturing Facility to Former Rayovac Plant

Upcoming Assembly Events and Webinars

Events

January 30, 2020

New Year, New Technology: Starting 2020 with Collaborative Robots

We’re starting another new year but your business challenges--like labor shortages, ergonomic risks and product quality--aren’t going away. You may have been thinking about implementing collaborative robots for some time. Make 2020 the year you turn a new leaf and get on board with cobots!

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Cloud Computing

Are you using cloud computing at your assembly plant?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Welding: Principles & Practices

Welding: Principles & Practices

This text introduces students to a solid background in the basic principles and practices of welding.

See More Products
assembly buyers guide

Assembly Magazine

assembly dec 2019

2019 December

The 2019 December Assembly features our Capital Spending Report, plus much more. Check it out today!
View More Create Account
  • More
    • Assembly Plant of the Year
    • Manufacturing Group
    • List Rental
    • Organizations
    • Connect
    • Want More?
    • Polls
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe
    • Survey And Sample

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing