It’s about time that Lotus decided to cash in on the EV market.  So far their cars are the basis for the Tesla Roadster, the Dodge Circuit, and a Mercedes concept.  Now it seems that instead of selling just the chassis they might try to sneak an engine in with it.

Lotus range extender engine

The engine is a gasoline powered internal combustion engine designed to be a range extender for an Extended Range Electric Vehicle.  The advantage this one has over the ones used in the Chevy Volt and the Fisker Karma is that this engine is designed for the sole use as a range extender.  The engines used in the Volt and Karma also serve double duty as the primary powerplant for other cars.

Lotus says that this will give their engine a distinct advantage over the other engines that are repurposed for use as generators.  Since this engine is designed as a generator from the ground up it is markedly different from a traditional internal combustion engine.  It is also simpler in certain areas.

The engine block, cylinder heads, and exhaust manifold are all casted from the same block reducing complexity and cost.  Some of the pieces that you would normally see in a combustion engine, like the head gasket, are left out all together.

It is a 1.2 liter engine with two valves per cylinder and a single overhead cam.  The design includes the electric generator coupled to the engine.  It can be operated in two different modes, a 15 kilowatt and a 35 kilowatt mode.  No mention of how fuel efficient the engine is, though it would be tough to figure that out without knowing the car it’s attached to.

It’s good to see a market cropping up for designs specific to EVs.  I think in the future we’ll be seeing a lot more parts made especially for electric cars and not something that’s repurposed from a traditional dinosaur burner.