Speed limiter, cruise control and ADAS

[TomE]

There's continued to be some confusion over what type of speed limiter and cruise control is going to be fitted to the different Emira variants. I now have a clear answer.

The speed limiter fitted to all Emira variants as standard is a LIM type or a “traditional speed limiter”. So you simply set the desired maximum speed on the instrument display via the steering wheel controls. The car will not exceed the “hard” limit selected, unless in the event of an emergency when the driver commands more than 80% throttle at which point the system will be overridden and the car will accelerate for safety reasons.

This is not the system required by European Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, a more intelligent form of speed limiter. The car will be fitted with the new speed limiter required by European Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 closer to the time this regulation comes into force in mid-2024.

The V6 First Edition will have simple cruise control, where the desired speed is set by the driver and the car maintains this speed unless the driver turns it off, brakes or disengages the clutch. The V6 FE will not have adaptive cruise control.

On ADAS, the V6 First Edition will not come with ADAS. There will be no ADAS-related infrastructure fitted to the car to pre-support it being installed at a later date.

The position on ADAS for i4 First Edition and Base Edition cars is not yet confirmed and will be communicated soon.

Source: Lotus ADAS team
#ForThe Facts

 

[klho001]

There's continued to be some confusion over what type of speed limiter and cruise control is going to be fitted to the different Emira variants. I now have a clear answer.

The speed limiter fitted to all Emira variants as standard is a LIM type or a “traditional speed limiter”. So you simply set the desired maximum speed on the instrument display via the steering wheel controls. The car will not exceed the “hard” limit selected, unless in the event of an emergency when the driver commands more than 80% throttle at which point the system will be overridden and the car will accelerate for safety reasons.

This is not the system required by European Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, a more intelligent form of speed limiter. The car will be fitted with the new speed limiter required by European Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 closer to the time this regulation comes into force in mid-2024.

The V6 First Edition will have simple cruise control, where the desired speed is set by the driver and the car maintains this speed unless the driver turns it off, brakes or disengages the clutch. The V6 FE will not have adaptive cruise control.

On ADAS, the V6 First Edition will not come with ADAS. There will be no ADAS-related infrastructure fitted to the car to pre-support it being installed at a later date.

The position on ADAS for i4 First Edition and Base Edition cars is not yet confirmed and will be communicated soon.

Source: Lotus ADAS team
#ForThe Facts

Cue the "I wouldn't be caught dead with the hideous ADAS sensor in the front!!!" or "What yr are we living in...how is ADAS not standard in FE cars????" crowd in 3...2...1...

 

[3MIRA]

Thank you for clarifying this as Scott was ambivalent about ADAS

 

[VL3X]

Cue the "I wouldn't be caught dead with the hideous ADAS sensor in the front!!!" or "What yr are we living in...how is ADAS not standard in FE cars????" crowd in 3...2...1...

Happy to hear this since I'm in the no "hideous ADAS sensor" camp! Still hoping the US spec V6 FEs have blind spot mirrors though.. Pretty sure that's required on new models here.

 

[Johnson]

Brilliant. Good to have some definitive news.

 

[mande110]

I guess my question is, will the v6 ever get an ADAS suite or is it only reserved for the i4?

 

[Off The Shelf]

Also they're rebranding F.E. to Featureless Edition

 

[denk0815]

Thanks for the info @TomE
Do you know if the topic of ADAS will be communicated in the i4 to coincide with 8 April?

 

[Pegasi]

This is a moderate win for not getting an FE and waiting for a BASE. I like ADAS.

 

[Porter]

Happy to hear this since I'm in the no "hideous ADAS sensor" camp! Still hoping the US spec V6 FEs have blind spot mirrors though.. Pretty sure that's required on new models here.

Lotus customer service told me via online chat that the V6 FE would NOT come with blind spot sensors in the mirrors. Like you, I am confused by that fact on a car that does come with front and rear parking sensors, and auto-folding and auto-dimming side mirrors. Seems very odd to omit that as an integral feature in a brand new side mirror pod design. I hope the folks on chat duty were mistaken.

The VP007 car that was reviewed did seem to have them, but it was also an ADAS test mule... I really hope they didn't make the blind spot light system part of ADAS when it's such a simple direct-wired prox-sensor-and-light arrangement in most cars.

 

[Jonhklee]

Cruise control in manual car always confuse me. Had it in my previous Mini Cooper Works - never used it.
Adaptive cruise with Auto only makes perfect sense. Anyway, as a GT adaptive cruise will be essential for epic drives to the continent - not so much for a sports car. Emira straddles both of these genre of cars, so I prefer the ADAS for me….. epic Drive in the Alps are a must….

 

[IanO]

Adaptive speed limit would be nice but I'm happy with a traditional speed limiter, just as long as I have something for the damned managed motorways.

 

[Leonard]

Surely the only thing we are missing in the manual V6 is blind spot and lane warning? How serious is that.....?

 

[Eagle7]

Surely the only thing we are missing in the manual V6 is blind spot and lane warning? How serious is that.....?

Those are the only two things I wouldn't mind having.

 

[Leonard]

Those are the only two things I wouldn't mind having.

Over and above everything else it comes with!?

 

[Eagle7]

Over and above everything else it comes with!?

Yeah, I can live without all the other features of the ADAS, especially if it has to have that ugly wart on the front of the car.

 

[xen]

I got one wouldn’t mind ADAS. Blind spot assist is a must and lane departure handy.

These features really depend on where you drive. You could just turn them off if you don’t need them but I’m personally bummed they don’t come in the V6 FE

 

[Andrew]

How would blind spot assist manifest on Lotus Emira?
It would be an orange triangle/symbol that appears on the inside corner of the mirror? Or there's no info about that yet?

 

[digilotus]

How would blind spot assist manifest on Lotus Emira?
It would be an orange triangle/symbol that appears on the inside corner of the mirror? Or there's no info about that yet?

It will look like an orange warning light as seen on the VP 007 ADAS test model used in recent press reviews.

 

[TomE]

I guess my question is, will the v6 ever get an ADAS suite or is it only reserved for the i4?

The V6 FE won't get ADAS but it's possible the V6 Base might get some or all of the ADAS features at some point. The current technical obstacle is some ADAS features need to take control of the steering and that's much harder with a fully hydraulic setup like on the V6.

The i4 has electro-hydraulic steering so fitting ADAS to the i4 FE and Base is easier. In theory it would be possible to re-engineer the V6 to have something similar. But it's non-trivial development work with multiple changes required. Remember the recent VP007 white prototype used for press reviews was described as "an ADAS development car" and that was a V6, so Lotus are clearly working on it.

My hunch is we'll see some ADAS features on the V6 Base, but Lotus are being non-committal at this stage.

Thanks for the info @TomE
Do you know if the topic of ADAS will be communicated in the i4 to coincide with 8 April?

I really hope so! They need to clarify the position. Having referenced ADAS in the reveal press releases last July, they were silent about it on the V6 FE specs until people queried why it wasn't mentioned, then vague about whether it would be on the i4 FE or Base cars. There's clearly a strong customer expectation that ADAS will be on the i4 FE and an option on Base.