USA/Canada Delivery Thread

[Nova]

I think this sensor information is great info - thanks! That along with side marker difference really reaffirms those cars are bound for NA.

But I do wonder if the sensors are larger because of the perceived "weight issues" of the U.S. drivers and that your tour guide was being nice and said it is a regulatory reason.......?

US regulations require the deactivation of the passenger airbag in certain situations. In response, cars use capacitive sensors to detect the presence of human bodies in addition to resistive weight sensors. Certain algorithms are then used to determine if a small child in a child seat is located in the passenger seat, which disables the passenger airbag, for example.

 

[benjh1028]

US regulations require the deactivation of the passenger airbag in certain situations. In response, cars use capacitive sensors to detect the presence of human bodies in addition to resistive weight sensors. Certain algorithms are then used to determine if a small child in a child seat is located in the passenger seat, which disables the passenger airbag, for example.

I like that reason much better than Lotus calling me fat!

 

[Maurice R]

This thread is becoming totally ridiculous and nonsensical and laughable and pitiful

 

[Dr.JDK]

I believe “KitKat” took this photo.
Where and when did you take this?
I saw NO amber strips on any headlights on any of the 200+ cars I looked at


View attachment 32074

anywhere at the Factory on Sept. 19th.

This is the ugly orange reflector I am referring to. This is quite pronounced when the light is on.

 

[Max]

One giant take away and reminder was the cultural differences between the US and the UK. Which I am starting to believe is driving the frustration.

Americans feel entitled as if it is our right to know everything at every moment and then be allowed to voice our concern and have someone act upon it, basically be a “Karen”.

Just look through this thread lotus is damned if they do damned if they don’t. Someone will always complain.

The British system is different you know what the monarchy wants you to know when they want you to know. People may get frustrated but it’s the culture.

With all due respect, this is a pretty lame screed. First, the US and UK have had a pretty strong trade relationship for decades, and the British are no different than we are.

The handling of this delivery situation is nothing short of a disgrace and an embarrassment, and after over 50 years of being an automotive enthusiast, even before the Europa was released, Lotus deserves nothing BUT damnation.

I've never seen the roll out of a new (sic) model this bad in my entire life. I mean, this is a world record for incompetence.

Has nothing to do with the monarchy or "culture. "

What serious person would believe such a thing? They're serial screw-ups, that's all.

And the lack of communication for the richest automotive market in the world is beyond comprehension. To show deposit holders such disregard and contempt is unfathomable.

Fan boys will be fan boys, but this is really a horrible experience for the enthusiast community in this country.

I hope its worth it, but after a year when the initial rush is cleared, someone will waltz into one of Lotus' "dealers" in this country and get more than the mats thrown in. That's how it is with sports cars.

 

[dgrace]

I also think UK vs US culture, entitled customer mentality, none of that has any bearing. Lotus has managed this launch worse than most Kickstarter projects. It's really not that hard to write an email once a month, or better yet, record a weekly 5-minute Instagram video from the factory. I'm still looking forward to the car, but certainly not looking forward to ever dealing with Lotus again. Who would?

 

[Eagle7]

"Kids these days!"

You sound like a bitter grandpa complaining about the degeneracy of the younger generations. Get a clue. The people who are upset put thousands of dollars down and then got treated like chumps by a company that doesn't seem to care whether they alienate their customers.


If you think Monty Python would agree with anything you're saying here, then you missed the entire message of their work, which was unabashedly anti-classist and politically subversive. The idea of a company taking thousands of pounds in deposit from a customer and then pointedly ignoring them for over 2 years is exactly the kind of entitled English class disdain behavior that they would have lampooned without reservation.

Of all the people on this forum, I didn't expect you to be the one with a response like this. You act like nobody else put thousands of dollars down. I'm in for $15k non-refundable. I don't feel like I'm being treated like a chump because they haven't been holding my hand every month to make me feel better.

I COMPLETELY disagree with your assessment of the Python. Did you ever see their famous "What have the Romans ever done for us?" skit? If anything, they would have lampooned the complainers.

What you and a few others haven't seemed to recognize, is Lotus has NOT been ignoring you for over 2 years. They worked through all the challenges they were faced with, and are now producing our cars, which is what they're supposed to be doing if they cared about the people who put down a deposit.

What I see is this: Your kitchen is on fire; what do you do. Try to put it out, or grab your cell phone, make a zoom call with everyone in the neighborhood so you can not only tell them your kitchen is on fire, but show it to them moment by moment, describing in emotional detail how it's spreading and is going to burn down the whole house.

You can only do one thing; put out the fire and save the house, or go social with it; what do you do? Lotus chose to put out the fire, and are now producing 40 cars a day. Some aren't happy with that, they wanted the social experience. Calling me a "bitter grandpa" was beneath you Porter, I expect better of you than that. You are actually one of my preferred posters on this forum, whose posts I generally respect and enjoy reading the most.

Lotus Hethel is in new territory for this type of experience, and I expect they'll change and adapt once cars are being produced and rolling smoothly off the assembly line, because to them and their investors, that's the number one concern.

 

[Eagle7]

Wow. I literally just received an email from Lotus Cars!

 

[Porter]

Of all the people on this forum, I didn't expect you to be the one with a response like this. You act like nobody else put thousands of dollars down. I'm in for $15k non-refundable. I don't feel like I'm being treated like a chump because they haven't been holding my hand every month to make me feel better.

I COMPLETELY disagree with your assessment of the Python. Did you ever see their famous "What have the Romans ever done for us?" skit? If anything, they would have lampooned the complainers.

What you and a few others haven't seemed to recognize, is Lotus has NOT been ignoring you for over 2 years. They worked through all the challenges they were faced with, and are now producing our cars, which is what they're supposed to be doing if they cared about the people who put down a deposit.

What I see is this: Your kitchen is on fire; what do you do. Try to put it out, or grab your cell phone, make a zoom call with everyone in the neighborhood so you can not only tell them your kitchen is on fire, but show it to them moment by moment, describing in emotional detail how it's spreading and is going to burn down the whole house.

You can only do one thing; put out the fire and save the house, or go social with it? Lotus chose to put out the fire, and are now producing 40 cars a day. Some aren't happy with that, they wanted the social experience. Calling me a "bitter grandpa" was beneath you Porter, I expect better of you than that. You are actually one of my preferred posters on this forum, who's posts I generally respect and enjoy reading the most.

Lotus Hethel is in new territory for this type of experience, and I expect they'll change and adapt once cars are being produced and rolling smoothly off the assembly line, because to them and their investors, that's the number one concern.

Nobody's asking for that. You're being absurdist with these illustrations. Lotus have an entire PR department and multiple external marketing firms all dedicated to the job of communicating. None of those people are doing vehicle engineering or process improvement. They could easily have extended some simple courtesy to their depositors with an email at some point over the last 2+ years, but they chose not to. That's a strategic choice that someone had to make affirmatively.

I'm not going to sit on my hands and rock quietly in place because you personally think that's a more appropriate role for a paying customer. You're free to do so if you want, but others aren't acting entitled if they don't share your view.

 

[KAR120C]

...

What I see is this: Your kitchen is on fire; what do you do. Try to put it out, or grab your cell phone, make a zoom call with everyone in the neighborhood so you can not only tell them your kitchen is on fire, but show it to them moment by moment, describing in emotional detail how it's spreading and is going to burn down the whole house.

You can only do one thing; put out the fire and save the house, or go social with it; what do you do? Lotus chose to put out the fire, and are now producing 40 cars a day. ...

There is a wide gulf between daily updates and zero updates. Surely Lotus could find an appropriate frequency and channel for communication to customers. I think that's all most of us want. They do have a communications team after all. Perhaps they could re-assess their role.

 

[Porter]

Wow. I literally just received an email from Lotus Cars!

And what did you glean from this artfully uninformative communiqué?

 

[Eagle7]

Yeah they can definitely stand to make some improvements, communication-wise, there's no question. However looking at it objectively, the most important thing was getting cars into production, because without that there's no revenue, and that was the cause of them having to lay off 200 people recently. Did they handle it perfectly? No, but cars are now in production and money is coming in; the fire is out.

 

[Eagle7]

And what did you glean from this artfully uninformative communiqué?

That they sent it to me? First time I've received something like this since my order was confirmed, so maybe they're turning the corner on communication. At least a little bit which is more than I've received before.

 

[Aero]

Wow. I literally just received an email from Lotus Cars!

I also got that email. Has anyone (with NA order in) actually emailed or tried calling and received useful information about their order (timeline update) by contacting them?

 

[Porter]

That they sent it to me? First time I've received something like this since my order was confirmed, so maybe they're turning the corner on communication. At least a little bit which is more than I've received before.

We shall see. It smells of liability limitation games to me.

By the way, I'm sorry about the grandpa comment. That was unnecessarily sharp and unkind of me. I do appreciate your contributions here as well.

 

[trackday14]

Wow. I literally just received an email from Lotus Cars!

View attachment 32107

I was just about to post the same email! Lotus is happy to communicate name changes and privacy policy updates, but silent on the communicating content we actually care about!

 

[Eagle7]

I was just about to post the same email! Lotus is happy to communicate name changes and privacy policy updates, but silent on the communicating content we actually care about!

Well silent at the moment, but maybe that's about to change. Who knows? Maybe this indicates an official shift in responsibility for things that will include communications. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[KAR120C]

Well silent at the moment, but maybe that's about to change. Who knows? Maybe this indicates an official shift in responsibility for things that will include communications. We'll just have to wait and see.

Yes, we'll see. I hope it's not like a company (that I shall not name) outsourcing most of it's support function offshore and renaming it the Center of Excellence.

 

[vdr]

“ No, but cars are now in production and money is coming in; the fire is out.”

I’d respectfully disagree…. We’re 2.5 years post the Goodwood reveal and the U.S. has yet to receive a dealer demo and any CARB approval is still pending. I’d expect the aforementioned to be imminent but still not a certainty.

The “fire” ain’t exactly out yet based on the fact that they’re producing 40 cars a day and SOME of those vehicles are likely destined for the U.S. market. I’d cautiously proffer that they MAY have the fire under control but it’s far from out….

 

[Eagle7]

Here's a general comment for everybody, just my 2 cents (and maybe a few more).

Every one of us put our money down because we wanted the car. Those of us still in, still do. Nobody put down thousands to be in an eternal, never-ending purgatory of waiting, delays, silence, etc. The pivot point is when we receive our car. That moves us from purgatory to the land of the living, or driving as it were, which is where we all want to be.

When that happens, what kind of experience do we want? I'm not insensitive to the emotional roller coaster everyone has been on, but I've learned a few things over the years. Being bitter and resentful is poison. It's mental, psychological and emotional poison. It can literally cause health problems, which is amply documented in medical literature. The best way to overcome that, is to use your power of choice and choose the attitude and behavior you want to have moving forward.

I don't want anyone on this forum to be unhealthy and unhappy. If Lotus doesn't, or doesn't in the immediate future, provide the social environment some want, how about us stepping up once we have our cars, and do it ourselves in here? This is a great platform for it. I would love to read about things people are discovering, doing, modifying as they start to live with their cars.

Rather than spoiling the experience with bitterness and resentment, let's reset the clock, and start fresh with what we want things to be once we have our cars, which it looks like will actually now happen in a few months.

I'm sorry for the grief some have experienced, but rather than hold onto that and drag it around so it can continue to victimize you, let it go and choose something better, even if that's a car from a different company if that's what will do it for you.