Most concept cars promise to run on unicorn farts, pump out 9,000 horsepower, deliver nano-second 0-60 mph times, and even cook your dinner if you ask nicely. We’ve often thought, "What a nice concept, it’ll never happen." They’re show-stoppers meant to highlight something that could possibly, maybe appear one day on a family sedan. And while they’re a neat distraction from the mundanities of the 9-5, they ultimately mean very little.
The Lotus Theory 1 is not that. This concept car is an actual sign of things to come. It has toys on board that actually work, and features that could appear on future cars. When it comes to Lotus, the future is sprinkled with a dash of the past.
Ben Payne, Lotus Group Design Vice President, was in London to talk us through the company’s new baby. Payne is all too aware of how the past needs to be respected.
"You can't ignore [the past], because one of the most important things we have is our heritage. Ignore that at your peril. It's extremely important we don't just do something that looks beautiful. It needs to have some genuine story behind it—how we can explain why it does certain things, or why it looks that way," Payne said.
Of course, the Theory 1 is a tech-fest, but it still nods to one of Lotus’s best-known icons: the Esprit.
"It isn't a pastiche, no. For us in the creative team it was more about taking the spirit of the Esprit and imagining what that looked like 50 years ago," he said.
There are nods to the Esprit all over the Theory 1—from the sheer wedginess of it, to lines along its flanks, and more. Looking back to inform the future, it seems, is a luxury Payne and his team seem to enjoy rather than endure. The Lotus back catalog is full of hits, why not use some of them as inspiration? Though here, if a customer, fan, or… whoever spots that some of the old stuff is present in the mix that’s seen as an objective win. Seeing an Emeya alongside, though, shows that it’s very much an evolution of the current design direction. The present isn’t to be ignored either.
It’s fair to say that delving into the firm’s past is, perhaps, wise. The firm’s EV offerings, the Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan, have received mixed reactions. Lotus purists, the devotees of lightness, affordability, and simplicity, have been vocal online about their heft, tech, and anything else they can pick holes in. The 'simplify and add lightness' quote of old is bandied around with nauseating frequency, but the Lotus that the faithful are used to didn’t come with huge batteries, 900 hp, or (in most cases) rear seats.
Today’s Lotus, or at least the Lotus that built Theory 1, is taking a different approach:
"The subject of weight, of course, is something everyone comes back to most. You have to understand that if that's what people think about your brand, your brand is what other people say—not what you say. So it's a core part of it—we have to deliver an efficiency in terms of a balance of weight, performance, and practicality, and that's really the equation with EV[s]."
"You can't ignore [the past], because one of the most important things we have is our heritage."
Payne explains that the lightness craved by many online can happen, but at a cost of either power, or range—finding the balance of what’s right for the brand, its direction, and customers is key. Getting it right requires, according to Payne, a new take on simplifying and adding lightness.
"Start from nothing, add the minimum. Just start from nothing, and only add what you need to see where you get to," Payne said.
EVs, of course, come in all shapes and sizes, but for Lotus to offer one with 1,000 metric horsepower, a target weight under 3,500 pounds, and 250 miles of range, you need to start with some chunky kit—a large battery (in this case 70.0-kilowatt-hours), motors capable of delivering serious grunt, a structure that’ll keep occupants safe (and warm), and the level of tech you’d expect from a supercar.
The Theory 1 isn’t a family car, it’s not dripping in plushness, and it’s not the sort of thing you can put a dog in the back of—largely because the back is full of pushrod suspension bits, EV running gears, and the sort of engineering solutions that will make your inner engineer contort with glee. It’s a supercar through and through.
Its seats are shaped into its carbon tub—one in the middle for the driver, and two set back on either side for their mates. The pedals and steering wheel move toward the driver silently when it’s time to go. Rather than sit on bare carbon, padding is strategically positioned, but it’s not ‘just’ padding. It’s active. The Theory 1 comes with haptic fabric.
Developed by a company called MotorSkins, the fabric can react to various inputs and change its shape depending on what you need. For example, if you change the car’s drive mode the seat will reconfigure its bolsters. If Theory 1’s myriad safety systems (it comes with plenty of that—even the same active LiDAR as the Eletre and Emeya) detect a car in your blind spot, it can theoretically give you a tap on the shoulder.
Lotus can even build buttons into the car that appear at first as flat fabric, but spring to life when needed—when you want to take a call, for example. It works with layers of fabric and air channels, which keeps it light, keeping extra tech to the minimum that Payne was talking about.
Similarly, the headrests aren’t big slabs of foam, but another technology that’s yet to be seen on a road car: 3D printed plastic. You might recognize the form of it if you’re into sneakers—the company that made it, Carbon, has been working with Adidas for years. Its 3D printed soles are springy, comfy, and look awesome. Why not use that tech as a light, aesthetically pleasing headrest? There’s even room for a set of KEF speakers in each seat so everyone can listen to their own concert as you glide along.
Smart toys are bolstered with smart materials—its glass is recycled, as is the carbon fiber that makes up its tub, and there’s a good dose of cellulose composites in its bodywork, too. The Lotus of old was a pioneer in the material space, and it looks like the Lotus of the future is carrying on with tradition.
While there have been some interested parties, Lotus isn’t going to build the Theory 1. You’ll see elements of it in future cars. It didn’t appear out of thin air, in fact, it’s been hiding out of sight for a while.
"The entire process took about two years," said Payne, "some of our workstreams started without a car in mind. We were looking at material explorations, next-gen lighting modules, and that kind of stuff." From there, a concept bloomed.
With a mix of old Lotus and new, the faithful should—hopefully—be happy with where things are pointing. Payne notes that as time goes on, and new cars are launched, things may become a little more familiar than the current EV lineup:
"We listen to the feedback, to what people say. We can't ignore the customer—ever. We're an agile enough company to listen to what people say," explained Payne, "As we start making smaller vehicles, they will, from their physicality, become more as people may remember the core of the brand. And I think this is very much a brand statement the future is very much going to embrace."
