In a recent interview with British magazine Auto Express, Lotus Group Chief Executive Officer Dany Bahar provided some info about the Lotus City Car, stating that the model will boast better performance figures than its direct competitors from Audi, BMW and Mini. According to Bahar, “There’s no point in trying to fight the MINIs, and the small BMWs and Audis unless you have a special offering. Our car will be an EV or range extended EV and will offer performance of no other small car“. This statement doesn’t say much about the immediate future of the model, but makes it clear that the British manufacturer is firmly committed to this project.

The Lotus City Car was firstly introduced to the public at the 2010 Paris Auto Show as a concept car, weighing in at 1,400 kg and powered by a rear-mounted electric engine delivering an output of 220 hp with 240 Nm of maximum torque. The final production model should be pretty similar to that concept and is expected to make its debut on the market in 2015 with a price tag of about 35,000 € (45,000$ - 29,000£). Although the car will initially be introduced as a Proton model, Mr.Bahar confirmed that it will be easily switchable to its Lotus version, a conversion that will justify in full the inflated price tag over the Proton-badged model.

The City Car concept was equipped with lithium batteries providing it with 60 km of range, but Lotus also added a range extender in the form of a 1.2-litre 3-cylindre bioethanol engine delivering 34 kW (46 hp) which boosts the autonomy of the vehicle up to 500 km (310 mph). As for the performance, the carmaker claimed a 0-50 km/h (31 mph) sprint time of 4,5 seconds, a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time of 9 seconds flat and a top speed of 170 km/h, with a CO2 emission level of 60 g/km. Click on the ‘Continue Reading’ link below to find out about the upcoming ‘Esprit’.

Continue reading: Lotus CEO talks about City Car and hybrid Esprit plans

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