Configurator updated....

[Speedluvver]

Colours definitely updated - seem much more realistic

Also noticed when you go to specify which gearbox - Its says 'V6 - Summer 2022'

Delay ? or for the second round of FE's (i.e if you put down a deposit now)

[MaJiK]

Ohhhhhhh nice find!

Magma red looks sexual!

[Evotion]

Yes, definitely but all the colours have more impact now.

The Verdant examples we saw looked darker but that green comes back into play a bit.

 

[Evotion]

Nimbus far more like Silver now - looks epic too.

Not sure this helps as even the Yellow looks spectacular!

[JimH]

Alcantara interiors seem a bit fubared?

[duncx]

I reckon Magma Red is now very close to the real thing, maybe still just a tiny bit too 'pinky', but close

[Nimbus-in-Notts]

I see they still won’t tell anyone outside of China the i4FE specs or pricing.

[MJON]

Yeah, also spotted Summer not Spring on configurator @Speedluvver It is contradicted on the opening config page. Though wouldn’t have thought it’s for new order placement now, unless the V6 numbers are lower than estimated? More likely a possible delay. Already see on another thread OP stating 01/23 as possible earliest i4 delivery? All speculation but personally wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the case.

[Bibs]

I'd imagine that the recently updated configurator is for people ordering now. As a customer looking to configure their car, it makes sense that Lotus can assume that you've not placed an order yet. Yes, those with deposits use it to consider options and colours, but the configurator is really there to function for new customers to see what their chosen spec will cost.

Unless you hear from the Lotus Contact Centre that you're estimated delivery date has changed, I'd not be assuming it has from a tool which isn't really intended for you any more. 

[Mctaff]

My understanding was they had already sold out the 2022 allocation a while ago, so any new orders are 2023 delivery... so I'm reading this as a delay to our delivery dates.

That said, I haven't had an estimated delivery date - has anyone?

[JimH]

Well the glitches seem to be fixed this morning - UK V6 FE's are showing Spring 2022 again, the alcantara interiors now load, and the glimpse of yellow stripe in the seats has gone..... 😞

[Evotion]

Ah, phew. That yellow stripe was giving me decision issues again.

Us, and Lotus, won't really know about real delivery dates until January 2022 when we are expected to place the third and final confirmation , non-refundable deposit. This will give them just the UK numbers of course as the US and others will be a few months behind that but it will help them nail down a delivery date for us IF IF IF production starts as planned and there are no issues.

[Wake]

5 hours ago, Mctaff said:

That said, I haven't had an estimated delivery date - has anyone?

I haven't had a date. I emailed the customer care team a couple of weeks ago and got this in response: 

"The only information HQ have provided us is that for v6 FE we will start deliveries in Spring of 2022 whereas for the i4 FE it will be in Autumn of 2022. We will be able to advise on a more accurate ETA for yourself once you are allocated a build slot which is after commitment to the order and spec, this will most likely take place in the new year."

I placed my deposit on 8th July at the end of the day after returning home from Goodwood. I suspect there will be quite a lot of deposits placed then. I'm not really expecting on having the car until August/September time. Which is why I am looking for an interim car now. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Wake

[Mctaff]

3 hours ago, Evotion said:

Ah, phew. That yellow stripe was giving me decision issues again.

Us, and Lotus, won't really know about real delivery dates until January 2022 when we are expected to place the third and final confirmation , non-refundable deposit. This will give them just the UK numbers of course as the US and others will be a few months behind that but it will help them nail down a delivery date for us IF IF IF production starts as planned and there are no issues.

a real delivery date is obviously more complex and there are still a fair few moving variables... but a rough estimate is easy... or at least tell me where I am in the queue as it stands, and how many cars they expect to produce per day for the UK market, and let me work it out for myself.

[Evotion]

26 minutes ago, Wake said:

whereas for the i4 FE it will be in Autumn of 2022.

That was always the comment from the start.

I am not the only one who has been told by non-customer Team Lotus senior people that it will be Jan 2023 as all of 2022 will be about satisfying the V6 orders. Again, who knows! ha 😃

Of course they can achieve the initial target with one new shift dedicated to the i4.  I have not seen any firm news on actual shifts yet. They might be struggling with staff to allow it.

23 minutes ago, Mctaff said:

and how many cars they expect to produce per day for the UK market, and let me work it out for myself.

Agreed. All we need to know is the shift count and numbers built per day.

[JimH]

Lotus are recruiting and training like mad - my nephew just went from telephone interview to training start date in less than 2 weeks, including face-to-face interview, aptitude tests, etc. He's come from the world of high-end road and mountain bikes and scored highly - so straight onto the engine/subframe line for now. Please don't ask though - I have no inside information and won't put him in that position!

Surely the point of the new £100m factory and semi-automated production line is that, like most other manufacturers, one final line can cope with each individual customer configuration (It'll have to once the base + options cars start in any case)?

Given that the V6 and i4 rear subframes and drivetrains/suspension etc. are modular and are assembled on a separate engine line just in time for final assembly I just don't get all of the speculative "finish the V6 FE's first" and "another shift dedicated to the i4's" stuff. Shifts won't end with an empty line, after all....

It seems far more logical to me that they'll start feeding i4 FE's into the production schedules as soon as the additional engineering, testing and certifications are done (i.e. Autumn 2022 if targets are met)?

 

[Evotion]

Great to hear and well done him!

The 'finishing the V6 run first' was  from a horses  mouth but, as we all now know, these things change.

Yes, I agree, there is no reason that they cannot make those changes for the I4 additions and the news on thir recruitment drive is super encouraging.

[TomE]

1 hour ago, JimH said:

Lotus are recruiting and training like mad - my nephew just went from telephone interview to training start date in less than 2 weeks, including face-to-face interview, aptitude tests, etc. He's come from the world of high-end road and mountain bikes and scored highly - so straight onto the engine/subframe line for now. Please don't ask though - I have no inside information and won't put him in that position!

Surely the point of the new £100m factory and semi-automated production line is that, like most other manufacturers, one final line can cope with each individual customer configuration (It'll have to once the base + options cars start in any case)?

Given that the V6 and i4 rear subframes and drivetrains/suspension etc. are modular and are assembled on a separate engine line just in time for final assembly I just don't get all of the speculative "finish the V6 FE's first" and "another shift dedicated to the i4's" stuff. Shifts won't end with an empty line, after all....

It seems far more logical to me that they'll start feeding i4 FE's into the production schedules as soon as the additional engineering, testing and certifications are done (i.e. Autumn 2022 if targets are met)?

 

Good for him, that’s great news.  Loads of hiring going on and a real buzz at a Hethel.  
 

The factory will be able to handle whatever mix of Emiras Lotus want to put through it.  Obviously the FE spec helps them streamline early on, but they’ve still got to cater for auto/manual V6 and different colours and interiors.  Later they’ll be mixing LHD and RHD, then i4 and V6 and eventually Base.  So any decisions about mix are largely commercial. 

2 hours ago, Mctaff said:

a real delivery date is obviously more complex and there are still a fair few moving variables... but a rough estimate is easy... or at least tell me where I am in the queue as it stands, and how many cars they expect to produce per day for the UK market, and let me work it out for myself.

We know how to work this out already - it’s 100 cars a week for single shift after initial ramp up (which will probably be short).  We also know roughly how many UK deposits had been placed by the end of each day at Goodwood and the rough conversion rate from deposits to V6 FE.

[TomE]

8 hours ago, Mctaff said:

That said, I haven't had an estimated delivery date - has anyone?

I’ve had an indication of which month. But that’s fairly easy for them as I’ve got a very early deposit and will be in month 1, possibly even week 1 or 2.  Exact timing will depend on how they do batching and delivery.  Happy to wait until Jan and more details. 

[PhilCP]

I hope, with all the new staff being recruited, there won’t be any initial build quality issues. One of the possible downsides of getting an early car. 

[Mctaff]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

We know how to work this out already - it’s 100 cars a week for single shift after initial ramp up (which will probably be short).  We also know roughly how many UK deposits had been placed by the end of each day at Goodwood and the rough conversion rate from deposits to V6 FE.

I've heard multiple different figures from various sources and I'll wager most of them are hearsay!

I suggest they publish a live list of deposit reference numbers in order, then I can get excited every time someone cancels their deposit and I move one position up the list!

:)

 

 

 

 

[Evotion]

We still don't know how many shifts are on  - do we?  Without that, we have no idea.  We know what Lotus are capable of but we don't know what they are doing for real.

13 hours ago, Mctaff said:

I suggest they publish a live list of deposit reference numbers in order, then I can get excited every time someone cancels their deposit and I move one position up the list!

Yeah, and like a good old fashioned sports ladder you can challenge people a certain number of places above you to a duel! 

[TomE]

14 hours ago, PhilCP said:

I hope, with all the new staff being recruited, there won’t be any initial build quality issues. One of the possible downsides of getting an early car. 

Lotus seem to be very focused on quality and know they need to get it right.  I suspect the press and demo cars and first customer cars are going to get a massive level of QA scrutiny before they leave Hethel.

A lot of what we think of as quality is sorted at the design stage and has been getting masses of attention.  Things like how surfaces join, alignment of panels, how switches are attached to interior etc.  One of the videos shows the interior mock up covered in stickers with the points from various design team members.  Many of the hires into design, production engineering and QA are experienced folks from Bentley, McLaren, Renault, Volvo and they're the ones creating the designs and production processes plus training the new production operatives.

I'm cautiously optimistic this will be the best built car Lotus have ever produced.

[Emiralust]

Anyone able to explain a bit more on how the number of cars made is split between countries, I don't understand it currently. 

I've read on here about 600 uk cars in the first year out of 4000 or whatever the number was. Is the 600th uk car going to be the 600th off the line or could be 4000th off the line?

[PhilCP]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

I'm cautiously optimistic this will be the best built car Lotus have ever produced.

Needs to be that as a minimum!

Agreed the quality of the parts will hopefully be a massive improvement from previous. I was more referring to the assembly in terms of panel gaps, squeaks & rattles etc.