My day at Hethel

I've got lots to share from my day at the Lotus Hethel factory and test track yesterday. Bear with me, it won't all be in one post and I will add to this thread during today and tomorrow. I'm also adding updates on relevant threads too, such as about specific features and the process in the US.

As many know, I've been sharing my and our frustrations about poor comms and customer service with contacts at Lotus. That resulted in my four pages of feedback (plus input from others) being raised with senior management. As a consequence, four of us were invited to go to Hethel, see for ourselves what is happening and discuss with senior people. Greg and Andrew went on Thursday and Ade @Evotion and I went on Friday. Greg has already posted his write up here and he and Andrew have added to that in response to questions. I'll try to avoid duplication.

Headlines

1. Remember it's still a pre-production car. That has been affecting comms and timing. But it's coming and it's (mostly) on track - the month delay from May to June is due to type approvals not supply chain, but Lotus are taking mitigating steps which will mean UK customer deliveries will catch up rapidly.
2. Quality. The step change from old factory to new factory is hugely impressive. The investment in production technology is the most visible, but behind that has been the hiring of a lot of production engineering and QA expertise from places like Toyota and Volvo as well as consulting input. There's also a lot happening on training, production proving and review. We saw the robots used for assembling panels to cars (it's like something from a scifi movie), one of three automated paint shops and the huge laser rig used to measure thousands of dimensions on every car at different stages of the build process to ensure they are built to tolerance. We also saw latest iteration seats (more on this later) and the QA sheets capturing feedback on what needs improving. We also saw full dashboards with immaculate stitching and gorgeous aluminium bracketry (which most people won't see). Lots of other things showing the evidence of the quality focus.
3. Colours. We saw all 6 First Edition colours (more details to follow) and they are all stunning. The bright colours pop and flow really well and the darker colours look classy and elegant. The curves of the car mean the colour changes constantly across the surface of the car, something we already know is really hard to see on a small sample. Eagle7's renders are very close and a new configurator is coming next week with much better renditions and the option to use different lighting.
4. Customer communication. They acknowledge this has not been as good as it should be and actions are being taken to address that. Briefings have taken place this week to all UK and US dealers with updates on the car, timing, processes, etc. Update emails have started going out to UK customers (segmented into clusters) and the new configurator plus finance and part exchange options will go live next week. Press drives and publication of reviews have been scheduled (we will see in 2-3 months time) and a further round of information being released is phased around that, including things like i4 FE and base pricing.
5. Delivery. Customer cars are on track to start in June in the UK. There are no concerns currently about supply chain, although it's obviously requiring a lot of work and planning and management. The key point is the slip from May to June is down to approvals not supply chain. Lotus are mitigating this and will be delivering a much larger batch in June and July than a normal month of production. So total 2022 volume will still be in line with original plans.
6. The car. I know I'm a Lotus enthusiast and some people think I get paid by the factory. But honestly folks it is utterly stunning. It looks fantastic and will turns heads, the interior is driver-focused and high quality, it looks and sounds awesome out on track and just pottering around the site. We spent time in the visitor centre and kept catching glances of cars moving around the site - some in the characteristic Emira "glamouflage" (yes, that's what it's called) and several in FE and non-prod colours.
7. Have faith! This is going to be an iconic car and if you have a deposit down you are not going to be disappointed.

Huge thanks to Scott Walker (UK Sales) for helping to make this day happen and to Matt Windle (Lotus MD), Geoff Dowding (Sales Director) and all the Lotus development, production, QA, logistics and events staff who spoke to us and showed us around.

Topics to come (and links to those topics once added):

• Colours: more thoughts on what I saw
• Sport and Touring: our chat with one of the development drivers and more info written by Gav Kershaw and about to be published
• Comms and deposit and order processes
• US/Canda approach
• After Sales: spares provisioning and servicing
• Press programme
• Dealer demo cars
• Delivery and factory collection options
• i4 development status and the surprise engine modification
• Latest revision on the seats
• Hiring and second shift
• New rolling road, monsoon test chamber and shakedown track
• Diamond cut wheel design (confirmation of details and feedback process with Customer Care)
• GT4 car and race programme
• Radford development
• Elise/Exige Final Editions

We were also told some things we were asked not to share, mainly because Lotus want to communicate it at the relevant time.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Some government offices had to shut due to Covid and then had backlogs when they re-opened.

what can I tell you, if they are not essential to work then we don't need them, I guess!
sorry guys just pissed off on how Governments Officials find excuses for everything, in general.
And we all have to pay for it.

 

[IanO]

I am not sure, but don' t think UK homologation will cover EU anymore. Remember UK not EU?

The UK is still aligned with the EU regulations for vehicle emissions. The certification done in the Uk is to EU standard and is valid in the EU.

Ironically the testing issue gets worse with electric vehicles. Though they don’t have any emissions the certified range is based on the emissions cycle and instead of doing one test they have to do test after test after test until the battery is depleted which takes days or even weeks.

 

[Leonard]

We never ever spoke about the power of the units. It seemed a little, well, less important. Hopefully we will find out more about the V6 and i4 units next week or in the coming months.

I can understand why they would maybe want to launch the Emira with a 400bhp V6. After all there isn't much manoeuvre with power increases with the Toyota sourced V6 and they will want to improve in the future.. However its pretty unheard of nowadays to launch a new model with less output than the old model. I know the Emira is technically not an evolution of the Evora, but then we all know it is 😁 I'd rather the V6 came in at 416 now and in future they up to 430 and remove weight. Then Final edition rawer still and rinse the Toyota lump for 450/460bhp

 

[Eagle7]

Fantastic write-up @TomE. Reading it was almost like being there, although if I had been, they would have had to carry me out of the paint/colors area lol. Your description of the colors verifies exactly what I was struggling with, and even mentioned a few times. These colors are extremely difficult to replicate as an image, and explains why no two photos of the samples looked alike. I could see a lot of flop (color transition) in the paints, but the Emira is mostly smooth flowing curves, so you don't have large areas of sudden transitions. This made it very hard to figure out how the color was going to change across the surfaces.

I believe you that these are new paints, because they don't look or behave like traditional metallics, enamels or even acrylic enamels. They look very rich and deep. For all the world, it looks like they've figured out how to replicate the behavior of the old lacquer paints. With multiple layers, those paints would gain a depth and richness that was almost 3 dimensional. I remember seeing a car where the guy had 6 layers of black lacquer, with each layer being buffed and corrected before the next was applied. Standing there looking down at the surface, it looked like you could put your hand down into it, it looked so deep. These new paints on the planforms remind me of that effect.

I had noticed on the photos of Nimbus on the planforms that it had a warm tone to it; your description of a bronze cream tone is perfect. I had been going back and forth between Verdant and Nimbus, and settled on Verdant because I didn't want just a silver car. The majority of vehicles where I live are in some version of silver or gray, so I wanted something different. However your description of Nimbus now has me revisiting the idea of Nimbus. I'm looking forward to seeing the new configurator.

I found your comment interesting that the yellow on the calipers doesn't match anything we've already seen, including their logo. I had used a photo of the blue car in China to pull the yellow samples, and the yellow did match the logo. Since you've seen it, what is it closest to?

I wish they had had a seat or interior sample of the tan leather so you could describe it. However for the black leather you did see, how is the quality of the leather?

I also found it interesting that the first press review car is in white! That was the color I did a render in and posted up as Silver Pearl Metallic, which I thought looked fantastic on the car. I wish they had made a gorgeous white as one of the FE colors.

I also like the fact that their new configurator is going to have indoor and outdoor lighting options, which was something I found useful in my renders, as the way the paint colors look is definitely different in those two environments.

All in all, it looks like most of your concerns were addressed by your visit, and I'm looking forward to further updates! Well done sir, well done.

 

[Tonyshepp]

Fantastic write-up @TomE. Reading it was almost like being there, although if I had been, they would have had to carry me out of the paint/colors area lol. Your description of the colors verifies exactly what I was struggling with, and even mentioned a few times. These colors are extremely difficult to replicate as an image, and explains why no two photos of the samples looked alike. I could see a lot of flop (color transition) in the paints, but the Emira is mostly smooth flowing curves, so you don't have large areas of sudden transitions. This made it very hard to figure out how the color was going to change across the surfaces.

I believe you that these are new paints, because they don't look or behave like traditional metallics, enamels or even acrylic enamels. They look very rich and deep. For all the world, it looks like they've figured out how to replicate the behavior of the old lacquer paints. With multiple layers, those paints would gain a depth and richness that was almost 3 dimensional. I remember seeing a car where the guy had 6 layers of black lacquer, with each layer being buffed and corrected before the next was applied. Standing there looking down at the surface, it looked like you could put your hand down into it, it looked so deep. These new paints on the planforms remind me of that effect.

I had noticed on the photos of Nimbus on the planforms that it had a warm tone to it; your description of a bronze cream tone is perfect. I had been going back and forth between Verdant and Nimbus, and settled on Verdant because I didn't want just a silver car. The majority of vehicles where I live are in some version of silver or gray, so I wanted something different. However your description of Nimbus now has me revisiting the idea of Nimbus. I'm looking forward to seeing the new configurator.

I found your comment interesting that the yellow on the calipers doesn't match anything we've already seen, including their logo. I had used a photo of the blue car in China to pull the yellow samples, and the yellow did match the logo. Since you've seen it, what is it closest to?

I wish they had had a seat or interior sample of the tan leather so you could describe it. However for the black leather you did see, how is the quality of the leather?

I also found it interesting that the first press review car is in white! That was the color I did a render in and posted up as Silver Pearl Metallic, which I thought looked fantastic on the car. I wish they had made a gorgeous white as one of the FE colors.
View attachment 2581

I also like the fact that their new configurator is going to have indoor and outdoor lighting options, which was something I found useful in my renders, as the way the paint colors look is definitely different in those two environments.

All in all, it looks like most of your concerns were addressed by your visit, and I'm looking forward to further updates! Well done sir, well done.

Perhaps @Eagle7 they have borrowed some of your ideas on paint colours after seeing your renders?? 😙

 

[Pegasi]

I can understand why they would maybe want to launch the Emira with a 400bhp V6. After all there isn't much manoeuvre with power increases with the Toyota sourced V6 and they will want to improve in the future.. However its pretty unheard of nowadays to launch a new model with less output than the old model. I know the Emira is technically not an evolution of the Evora, but then we all know it is 😁 I'd rather the V6 came in at 416 now and in future they up to 430 and remove weight. Then Final edition rawer still and rinse the Toyota lump for 450/460bhp

I wonder if Lotus figured that there would be so many new people to the brand that the HP number wasn't critical. They seemingly have done a good job inspiring current Lotus owners and attracting new customers at the same time. That isn't always easy. And yes, I would love to be sub 4 seconds 0-60. Not that I could drive it like that, but I sure would tell a lot of people!

 

[Eagle7]

Perhaps @Eagle7 they have borrowed some of your ideas on paint colours after seeing your renders?? 😙

That would be cool hehe. They may very well have decided to add the outdoor lighting option though from seeing what I'd done, since that's where we'll be driving our cars. It's nice to see how shiny they look indoors in a showroom, but outdoors is where people will see them.

 

[Eagle7]

I wonder if Lotus figured that there would be so many new people to the brand that the HP number wasn't critical. They seemingly have done a good job inspiring current Lotus owners and attracting new customers at the same time. That isn't always easy. And yes, I would love to be sub 4 seconds 0-60. Not that I could drive it like that, but I sure would tell a lot of people!

Well oddly enough, and this is something they've apparently noticed, the overwhelming obsession has been paint colors and interior quality. Sure there have been some threads about hp, but by far the greatest amount of discussion has been about colors. Considering that Lotus is a sports car company and known for their handling, it's probably been somewhat of a surprise to see how focused people have been on paint colors.

 

[Leonard]

I wonder if Lotus figured that there would be so many new people to the brand that the HP number wasn't critical. They seemingly have done a good job inspiring current Lotus owners and attracting new customers at the same time. That isn't always easy. And yes, I would love to be sub 4 seconds 0-60. Not that I could drive it like that, but I sure would tell a lot of people!

That is a very good point. 👍 I honestly think it needs those extra few horses to make it competitive tho

 

[Leonard]

Well oddly enough, and this is something they've apparently noticed, the overwhelming obsession has been paint colors and interior quality. Sure there have been some threads about hp, but by far the greatest amount of discussion has been about colors. Considering that Lotus is a sports car company and known for their handling, it's probably been somewhat of a surprise to see how focused people have been on paint colors.

True. But then we have probably all seen the video of Matt saying it will have 416bhp.... So haven't really questioned it until its been confirmed one way or another

 

[Tonyshepp]

That would be cool hehe. They may very well have decided to add the outdoor lighting option though from seeing what I'd done, since that's where we'll be driving our cars. It's nice to see how shiny they look indoors in a showroom, but outdoors is where people will see them.

That is a very good point. 👍 I honestly think it needs those extra few horses to make it competitive tho

Weight watchers is your friend for the additional performance.

 

[Leonard]

Weight watchers is your friend for the additional performance.

Amen 1280kg - for the win (not sure where they find that mind!!!)

 

[Dommo]

I've got lots to share from my day at the Lotus Hethel factory and test track yesterday. Bear with me, it won't all be in one post and I will add to this thread during today and tomorrow. I'm also adding updates on relevant threads too, such as about specific features and the process in the US.

As many know, I've been sharing my and our frustrations about poor comms and customer service with contacts at Lotus. That resulted in my four pages of feedback (plus input from others) being raised with senior management. As a consequence, four of us were invited to go to Hethel, see for ourselves what is happening and discuss with senior people. Greg and Andrew went on Thursday and Ade @Evotion and I went on Friday. Greg has already posted his write up here and he and Andrew have added to that in response to questions. I'll try to avoid duplication.

Headlines

1. Remember it's still a pre-production car. That has been affecting comms and timing. But it's coming and it's (mostly) on track - the month delay from May to June is due to type approvals not supply chain, but Lotus are taking mitigating steps which will mean UK customer deliveries will catch up rapidly.
2. Quality. The step change from old factory to new factory is hugely impressive. The investment in production technology is the most visible, but behind that has been the hiring of a lot of production engineering and QA expertise from places like Toyota and Volvo as well as consulting input. There's also a lot happening on training, production proving and review. We saw the robots used for assembling panels to cars (it's like something from a scifi movie), one of three automated paint shops and the huge laser rig used to measure thousands of dimensions on every car at different stages of the build process to ensure they are built to tolerance. We also saw latest iteration seats (more on this later) and the QA sheets capturing feedback on what needs improving. We also saw full dashboards with immaculate stitching and gorgeous aluminium bracketry (which most people won't see). Lots of other things showing the evidence of the quality focus.
3. Colours. We saw all 6 First Edition colours (more details to follow) and they are all stunning. The bright colours pop and flow really well and the darker colours look classy and elegant. The curves of the car mean the colour changes constantly across the surface of the car, something we already know is really hard to see on a small sample. Eagle7's renders are very close and a new configurator is coming next week with much better renditions and the option to use different lighting.
4. Customer communication. They acknowledge this has not been as good as it should be and actions are being taken to address that. Briefings have taken place this week to all UK and US dealers with updates on the car, timing, processes, etc. Update emails have started going out to UK customers (segmented into clusters) and the new configurator plus finance and part exchange options will go live next week. Press drives and publication of reviews have been scheduled (we will see in 2-3 months time) and a further round of information being released is phased around that, including things like i4 FE and base pricing.
5. Delivery. Customer cars are on track to start in June in the UK. There are no concerns currently about supply chain, although it's obviously requiring a lot of work and planning and management. The key point is the slip from May to June is down to approvals not supply chain. Lotus are mitigating this and will be delivering a much larger batch in June and July than a normal month of production. So total 2022 volume will still be in line with original plans.
6. The car. I know I'm a Lotus enthusiast and some people think I get paid by the factory. But honestly folks it is utterly stunning. It looks fantastic and will turns heads, the interior is driver-focused and high quality, it looks and sounds awesome out on track and just pottering around the site. We spent time in the visitor centre and kept catching glances of cars moving around the site - some in the characteristic Emira "glamouflage" (yes, that's what it's called) and several in FE and non-prod colours.
7. Have faith! This is going to be an iconic car and if you have a deposit down you are not going to be disappointed.

Huge thanks to Scott Walker (UK Sales) for helping to make this day happen and to Matt Windle (Lotus MD), Geoff Dowding (Sales Director) and all the Lotus development, production, QA, logistics and events staff who spoke to us and showed us around.

Topics to come (and links to those topics once added):

• Colours: more thoughts on what I saw
• Sport and Touring: our chat with one of the development drivers and more info written by Gav Kershaw and about to be published
• Comms and deposit and order processes
• US/Canda approach
• After Sales: spares provisioning and servicing
• Press programme
• Dealer demo cars
• Delivery and factory collection options
• i4 development status and the surprise engine modification
• Latest revision on the seats
• Hiring and second shift
• New rolling road, monsoon test chamber and shakedown track
• Diamond cut wheel design (confirmation of details and feedback process with Customer Care)
• GT4 car and race programme
• Radford development
• Elise/Exige Final Editions

We were also told some things we were asked not to share, mainly because Lotus want to communicate it at the relevant time.

Hi Tom. Did Lotus give any indication of their projected sales and how that might affect the way they plan for production moving forward?

Obviously it's easy for us early deposit holders to get caught up in the anticipation of getting the cars and clearly the Emira was a great success at the launch, but do you know what the order book is looking like now? I.e. did they have an initial spike in orders that's now tapering off or are they still inundated with new orders? I guess that's an important factor for Lotus when planning production as well as any potential second shifts...

 

[andrew6382]

Hi Tom. Did Lotus give any indication of their projected sales and how that might affect the way they plan for production moving forward?

Obviously it's easy for us early deposit holders to get caught up in the anticipation of getting the cars and clearly the Emira was a great success at the launch, but do you know what the order book is looking like now? I.e. did they have an initial spike in orders that's now tapering off or are they still inundated with new orders? I guess that's an important factor for Lotus when planning production as well as any potential second shifts...

I was not talked about with me..... may be others.... But they have already advertised for a second shift manager. Think easy worked out if the reviews are good from the press... then more orders will come..etc...etc

 

[Eagle7]

I was not talked about with me..... may be others.... But they have already advertised for a second shit manager. Think easy worked out if the reviews are good from the press... then more orders will come..etc...etc

Though funny, you need to edit and correct how you described the manager lol.

 

[jmn444]

is it harder to manage a 1st shit or a 2nd shit though?

 

[andrew6382]

is it harder to manage a 1st shit or a 2nd shit though?

think its time to shut the laptop off

 

[Eagle7]

is it harder to manage a 1st shit or a 2nd shit though?

I imagine it would be the first; more production volume as it were.

 

[virtualmacho]

is it harder to manage a 1st shit or a 2nd shit though?

Different objectives. First is about volume control. Restriction, evening the output. Second is effeciency. Sqeezing out every last drop of Value.

 

[ADC]

Somebody needs to flush those last half dozen posts... they just kind of stink up an otherwise informative thread.