There"s heavy cladding...
There"s heavy cladding at the rear to hide its identity, but the bonnet reveals this is no ordinary prototype. With a sporty bulge and an air intake similar to that of the Cooper S hatch, there"s a rather special powerplant under the hood.
Silent-running electric...
Silent-running electric cars and hybrid vehicles are about to be wired for sound!
The near-inaudible whirring made by battery-powered models is a turn-off for many potential buyers. But Lotus and hi-fi expert Harman Kardonò€™s new technology means youò€™ll soon be able to select the engine noise of your choice ò€“ from a throaty V8 to a spaceship-like swoosh!
The Electronic Sound Synthesis (ESS) gadget works by processing road speed info from a carò€™s ECU and turning it into an engine note thatò€™s pumped through speakers in the cabin and hidden in the wheelarches.
As the system works ò€˜liveò€™, by reacting to driver inputs rather than using recordings, it can be modified to produce a number of sounds. And Auto Express has found out that the first cars to get the technology will appear in the UK very soon ò€“ with a Star Trek-like soundtrack!
Lotus engineer Andy Mackay told us: ò€œESS has mainly been developed to improve safety, especially for groups such as the blind, who cannot see cars approaching.
ò€œYet there are also opportunities to improve the feel of driving an electric model. Giving it a traditional exhaust sound is simple and effective, but we can do a lot more.ò€
The technology could be used on petrol motors, too. As makers look to lighten vehicles by using engines with fewer cylinders, ESS could make a four-pot sound like a V6.