Lotus electric city car revealed

Measuring just 2600mm in length and 1600mm wide, the Lotus supermini is even smaller than a Toyota iQ.

Industry magazine Automotive Engineer commissioned Lotus Design to come up with an all-purpose city-centric concept vehicle for the ‘real world’.

The Lotus supermini was designed for the ‘average European journey’ – a distance of about 14 miles with a top speed of 105kph and an average speed of about 65kph.

Created in just two weeks, weight has been saved by limiting the battery pack to 100 lithium ion cells with a total capacity of 10kWh and a charge time of 3.5 hours.

An aluminium spaceframe in the floor houses the batteries and electrical bits, while also providing stiffness and crash resistance.

There are no plans as yet to put this Lotus into production.