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.

 

[Speedluvver]

Thank you Tom... please don't leave us hanging for too long on the i4 info.....

 

[eclat2emira]

Definately, or should that be definitely?

Nicely done.

 

[Buzz]

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:

• 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.

Great write up, thanks for posting ! Looking forward to US / Canada approach info.

 

[Pugwash]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Tom. Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

[VL3X]

Thanks as always Tom. You can always update your first post with links to others and categorize/organize them with bullets at the bottom or something like that. Either way, I'll find them.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

We didn't talk specifically about European countries but what we heard about UK, US and global production gives a good idea of what's happening.

Essentially for most (all?) countries outside UK it is a dealer-led process and based around annual allocations of build slots by Lotus to each dealer. This will include info on delivery timings and mix (mainly V6 FE, i4 FE, Base as this is production-readiness determined). Dealer then determines who gets which slot and will manage the specification finalisation process with the customer. It looks like Lotus will require specification around 3-6 months before expected delivery month, but that may change as production moves forward.

Start of delivery in each country is primarily being driven by gaining the relevant approvals in that country, which is a complicated process made harder to predict due to some Covid impacts. Lotus are working to a plan but are having to review global production timings and splits every month in light of latest progress and information. Dealers are all getting briefings and more info by end of Jan and there will be a further round of updates in 2-3 months.

At the moment dealers aren't in a position to be able to say customer X will get delivery in month Y.

We didn't talk specifically about European countries but what we heard about UK, US and global production gives a good idea of what's happening.

Essentially for most (all?) countries outside UK it is a dealer-led process and based around annual allocations of build slots by Lotus to each dealer. This will include info on delivery timings and mix (mainly V6 FE, i4 FE, Base as this is production-readiness determined). Dealer then determines who gets which slot and will manage the specification finalisation process with the customer. It looks like Lotus will require specification around 3-6 months before expected delivery month, but that may change as production moves forward.

Start of delivery in each country is primarily being driven by gaining the relevant approvals in that country, which is a complicated process made harder to predict due to some Covid impacts. Lotus are working to a plan but are having to review global production timings and splits every month in light of latest progress and information. Dealers are all getting briefings and more info by end of Jan and there will be a further round of updates in 2-3 months.

At the moment dealers aren't in a position to be able to say customer X will get delivery in month Y.

Thanks Tom,

It doesn't look promising as it stands,
I am not worried about the internal process with the dealer, since I am nr. 1 overall for Spain, and config and contract locked up last year.
I am worried about the possible delays over the original plan, which was supposed to be 1-2 months after start of UK deliveries.
Don't know what trouble Lotus can be going through for homologation, I would suppose that for EU they would do a general homologation in one of the countries, i.e. Holland, as opposed to country by country, but I might be wrong.
in any case, even with Covid related issues, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to pull the homologation in 6 months, which means they could perfectly say at least, whether they stick to the original plan modified with one month delay at least already.
They have at least one month ago confirmed the first deliveries in June 22 for UK, did they pass the homologation for UK at that time? I guess not, therefore they could have perfectly confirmed start of deliveries for EU.
This makes me think they might be shuffling with productions to fit UK and US high demand as a priority, and the homologation being just an excuse = NOT so Global approach anymore, or at least still not communicative enough globally.
As much as I love the car and want LOTUS to succeed , I hope they really get their act together communicating a clear plan to the dealers as soon as possible, so that the dealer can tell us at least something about the delivery.
Having said this, doesn't take away of course all the positives from your visit and the amount of good feedback on the technical side.
Now I go back to waiting mode!

 

[770K]

Great work Tom, thanks for the time you are taking.

 

[TomE]

Thanks Tom,

It doesn't look promising as it stands,
I am not worried about the internal process with the dealer, since I am nr. 1 overall for Spain, and config and contract locked up last year.
I am worried about the possible delays over the original plan, which was supposed to be 1-2 months after start of UK deliveries.
Don't know what trouble Lotus can be going through for homologation, I would suppose that for EU they would do a general homologation in one of the countries, i.e. Holland, as opposed to country by country, but I might be wrong.
in any case, even with Covid related issues, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to pull the homologation in 6 months, which means they could perfectly say at least, whether they stick to the original plan modified with one month delay at least already.
They have at least one month ago confirmed the first deliveries in June 22 for UK, did they pass the homologation for UK at that time? I guess not, therefore they could have perfectly confirmed start of deliveries for EU.
This makes me think they might be shuffling with productions to fit UK and US high demand as a priority, and the homologation being just an excuse = NOT so Global approach anymore, or at least still not communicative enough globally.
As much as I love the car and want LOTUS to succeed , I hope they really get their act together communicating a clear plan to the dealers as soon as possible, so that the dealer can tell us at least something about the delivery.
Having said this, doesn't take away of course all the positives from your visit and the amount of good feedback on the technical side.
Now I go back to waiting mode!

UK approval hasn't been achieved yet and they are working on completing everything that has to be included in the submission. That submission must be close, as they appear confident enough to start telling people about June deliveries.

I would assume as you suggest, that EU approval will be done in one country and then ratified cross-EU. We didn't get info on the specifics of that process or current timing, just that it was being pursued in multiple regions worldwide. It was also apparent that the production stack is being revised regularly, so I hope they can pin this down more accurately in the next 2-3 months.

 

[TomE]

I've added a thread about colours and updated the first post of this thread to link to it:

Emira colours - seeing cars at Hethel

We were able to see all the FE colours on complete or nearly complete cars during our visit to Hethel yesterday. These were in two places. Most were in the production hall, a large hangar with high ceilings and well-lit artificial light plus some big windows down one side letting in the bright...

www.emiraforum.com

Enjoy the read and have a great evening. I'm off for a beer, more to come later/tomorrow.

 

[Evotion]

Awesome stuff Tom
I know I shouldn't be so excited about the seats, but I really am. Was worried they would be a weak point if left in the current show car config.
This is a bit of a teaser!

• i4 development status and the surprise engine modification

They look much better than the ones in the tours. They are much more hugging and sports orientated. We weren't allowed to sit in them unfortunately and, believe me, I was asking a lot.

Of course, they are still relatively heavy compared to carbon but they will provide comfort, flexibility and comfort in spades.

 

[Leonard]

They look much better than the ones in the tours. They are much more hugging and sports orientated. We weren't allowed to sit in them unfortunately and, believe me, I was asking a lot.

Of course, they are still relatively heavy compared to carbon but they will provide comfort, flexibility and comfort in spades.

Good seats make such a difference to how special a car feels as well as driver comfort of course. Pleased to hear they are more sporty. I find it strange why anyone needs multi adjustable electric seats in a sports car, but ho hum. Would LOVE (and would pay for) something similar to Porsches half bucket. All good tho.

 

[Evotion]

I'm hoping there will the possibility of switching in carbon seats later - as well as other carbon bits

 

[IanO]

UK approval hasn't been achieved yet and they are working on completing everything that has to be included in the submission. That submission must be close, as they appear confident enough to start telling people about June deliveries.

I would assume as you suggest, that EU approval will be done in one country and then ratified cross-EU. We didn't get info on the specifics of that process or current timing, just that it was being pursued in multiple regions worldwide. It was also apparent that the production stack is being revised regularly, so I hope they can pin this down more accurately in the next 2-3 months.

The latest Euro 6 emissions need a huge amount of extra testing compared to previous standards which means that the testing facilities are booked out and getting slots with the authorities to witness tests is difficult. Any problems with a testing program will cause issues as new test slots can’t be easily booked leading to delays. Once the car is certified in the UK it will cover all of Europe but the American rules are different and need a whole set of new tests to be done.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

The latest Euro 6 emissions need a huge amount of extra testing compared to previous standards which means that the testing facilities are booked out and getting slots with the authorities to witness tests is difficult. Any problems with a testing program will cause issues as new test slots can’t be easily booked leading to delays. Once the car is certified in the UK it will cover all of Europe but the American rules are different and need a whole set of new tests to be done.

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

 

[TomE]

The latest Euro 6 emissions need a huge amount of extra testing compared to previous standards which means that the testing facilities are booked out and getting slots with the authorities to witness tests is difficult. Any problems with a testing program will cause issues as new test slots can’t be easily booked leading to delays. Once the car is certified in the UK it will cover all of Europe but the American rules are different and need a whole set of new tests to be done.

Good insight, interesting to understand some of the issues Lotus are having to overcome.

I suspect they have got a decent way through emissions testing for UK. They are announcing UK finance options next week and my understanding is they needed an official CO2 figure before they could publish that. It’s not my field and you may have more insight.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Good insight, interesting to understand some of the issues Lotus are having to overcome.

I suspect they have got a decent way through emissions testing for UK. They are announcing UK finance options next week and my understanding is they needed an official CO2 figure before they could publish that. It’s not my field and you may have more insight.

It is very hard, at least for me, to believe that you could face a delay in a production on such a big scale only because the government/s does not have people to assess the tests. But who knows?

 

[Matthaus]

Thank you Tom... please don't leave us hanging for too long on the i4 info.....

I'm excited by this. Hope we get the info soon.

420bhp please

 

[TomE]

It is very hard, at least for me, to believe that you could face a delay in a production on such a big scale only because the government/s does not have people to assess the tests. But who knows?

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

 

[Evotion]

I'm excited by this. Hope we get the info soon.

420bhp please

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.

 

[p.rob]

The latest Euro 6 emissions need a huge amount of extra testing compared to previous standards which means that the testing facilities are booked out and getting slots with the authorities to witness tests is difficult. Any problems with a testing program will cause issues as new test slots can’t be easily booked leading to delays. Once the car is certified in the UK it will cover all of Europe but the American rules are different and need a whole set of new tests to be done.

I had a talk with my Canadian dealership last week. They are expecting first deliveries in September, so that kinda fits what you are saying about homologation being little later in North America.