Following on from the news of Land Rover’s sustainable initiatives, Lotus, the Norfolk-based car manufacturer, are celebrating the award of two government contracts to develop ‘greener’ vehicles.
The firm announced that 130 new engineering jobs would be available as a result of this and other successes. The new roles will mostly be as part of its consultancy network.
The government schemes, part of a £23 million carbon-reducing initiative, involve working with London Taxis International (LTI), amongst others, to create a fleet of ‘zero-emission’ taxi-cabs to be introduced to London by 2012.
In addition, Lotus will team up with Jaguar to develop an executive saloon vehicle with carbon emissions of less than 120 grams per kilometre, meaning it qualifies for the lowest road tax band of £35. The project is called ‘Limo Green’. As reported here this week, the government is to press the EU to introduce targets to car manufacturers of less than 110 g/km by 2020. The current target of 110 g/km is expected to be achieved by 2015.
Lotus also currently manufactures a 100 per cent electric roadster for Tesla. They make five a week at their plant in Hethel, Norwich, but said today that this will increase to 40 per week by the end of the year.
The chief executive, Mike Kimberley, said the initiatives are all part of the company’s vision towards “guilt-free performance motoring”.
“There is a world-wide drive to reduce carbon dioxide emission levels and this is something to which we are dedicated, for both our Lotus cars and our global engineering clients,” he added.
With Land Rover’s 600-strong recruitment drive, and the 130 from Lotus, car manufacturers appear to be taking heed of the environmental challenge and recognise the need to invest in it.
