Ah, good old Lotus, always trying to push the boundaries of engineering and, occasionally, other things too.
Lotus has, for the sake of the environment, chosen to make a show car variant of the (almost) too-good-to-be-true Elise. in this case it is called the Eco Elise Concept (they need to bulk up the talent in the naming dept., don’t you think?).
Not only have they done things like lower CO2 emissions, they have taken a holistic approach to the overall design and manufacture of the car itself.
Lotus has developed a cleaner manufacturing process using water based paint technology, and they also use renewable materials wherever they could. In addition to the use of eco-wool (whatever the Hell that is) for the upholstery they use eco-sisal (again wah??) for the carpeting.
They are also into renewable energy generation too, because the Eco Elise’s hemp hard top incorporates a set of solar panels that provide power for the car’s electrical systems.
I’m sorry, what?
That’s right, I said hemp hard top.
They also use hemp on the car’s composite body panels, spoiler and seats,
After all, I believe that it was Colin Chapman that said, “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”
Oh no wait, that was Hunter S. Thompson.
Source: carscoop
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