USA/Canada Delivery Thread

[Magma]

The reason I ask is that my dealer, who was also at the meeting, was not aware the cars were still going to be build and shipped.

This is what he said.

I did not hear this. What I did hear is that once North American spec Emiras are built, all production will be dedicated to supplying the North American market for a period of time to “catch up” with orders.

This has happened before with Dealers and Lotus meetings. All dealers at the same meeting but taking away different information.
I agree with @kitkat...Gator's info has always shown to be true and accurate.

 

[CHEESE]

It's both... Lotus is aware of what needs to be updated to hit Certification... production will be on schedule with updates added at the factory, starting in April/May. Then they will be shipped stateside arriving starting in July, warehoused until Lotus gets the official CARB certification from the EPA... Then released once that happens. They will have a build up of cars being warehoused... So they will not all be released at once.

That's the key. Do we have any details on this?

 

[2Lotus]

This has happened before with Dealers and Lotus meetings. All dealers at the same meeting but taking away different information.
I agree with @kitkat...Gator's info has always shown to be true and accurate.

I agree

It makes more sense to build them and get them in the US for faster delivery's once they get approval!

 

[EspritGuy]

It's both... Lotus is aware of what needs to be updated to hit Certification... production will be on schedule with updates added at the factory, starting in April/May. Then they will be shipped stateside arriving starting in July, warehoused until Lotus gets the official CARB certification from the EPA... Then released once that happens. They will have a build up of cars being warehoused... So they will not all be released at once.

What's the chance Emiras headed to California will have different emission setup/hardware than rest of US? This has happened with other US models I believe.

 

[VL3X]

I've been MIA for the last week or so as I've been pretty disgusted with Lotus and how they've handled things thus far. One thing I'd like clarification on from the @GatorMotorsport communication:

FE V6 production will begin in May & vehicles will start to arrive stateside at the end of July; however, they will not be released to dealers until all certifications are completed. This has been quoted between weeks 42-50 of this year (mid-October thru December). After that point, cars will be released from port proportionate to the previously mentioned timelines.

Are they saying no cars will be released until all cars have certs completed (as in a huge batch of Emiras will be released end of Dec/early 2024) or will each Emira will be released as it's certified at the port (as early as October)?

 

[Porter]

Are they saying no cars will be released until all cars have certs completed (as in a huge batch of Emiras will be released end of Dec/early 2024) or will each Emira will be released as it's certified at the port (as early as October)?

Cars aren't individually certified. The model is certified generally for sale (homologated) or it is not.

 

[VL3X]

Cars aren't individually certified. The model is certified generally for sale (homologated) or it is not.

Right, so why don't they build a NA spec Emira and send it over ASAP? Why haven't they already? It shouldn't be much different than headlights and rear bumper, right? You'd think they'd want these orders delivered and paid as much as the customers want their cars. Sounds like another supplier delay issue or they dragged their feet and failed to get on the cert schedule.

 

[kitkat]

Right, so why don't they build a NA spec Emira and send it over ASAP? Why haven't they already? It shouldn't be much different than headlights and rear bumper, right? You'd think they'd want these orders delivered and paid as much as the customers want their cars. Sounds like another supplier delay issue or they dragged their feet and failed to get on the cert schedule.

Honestly to me it sounds like US certifications is backlogged. Sure Lotus is late to try and get certifications but yeah, it is what it is at this point.

 

[4MIR3]

Right, so why don't they build a NA spec Emira and send it over ASAP? Why haven't they already? It shouldn't be much different than headlights and rear bumper, right? You'd think they'd want these orders delivered and paid as much as the customers want their cars. Sounds like another supplier delay issue or they dragged their feet and failed to get on the cert schedule.

They are... Delays up to April/May were based on factory capacity to service all regions... playing catch up. They are on schedule for that (so far), Lotus knows the issues for certification and are addressing them prior to USA production starting. Issue is as KitKat mentioned... There is a backlog of EPA certification stateside, thus the reason the cars will be warehoused until that happens.

 

[981KMAN]

A vehicle does not need CARB certification to be sold in 35 states. CARB does not set the Federal environmental regulations. So is it CARB certification or Federal EPA or NHTSA Certification or all 3 that is lacking?

 

[action_turtle]

Right, so why don't they build a NA spec Emira and send it over ASAP? Why haven't they already? It shouldn't be much different than headlights and rear bumper, right? You'd think they'd want these orders delivered and paid as much as the customers want their cars. Sounds like another supplier delay issue or they dragged their feet and failed to get on the cert schedule.

Probably like the UK Auto situation, whats the point in building something you can't sell... The cars will be sat for best part of a year in a US shipping yard. Waste of time when they have so many other cars to get through.

Personally, I think the real issue is what took them so long to submit the paperwork? Then they chose to compound on that by telling their customers delivery dates when they had no official word they could even sell the car. Crazy that they are building cars with no official sign-off. They must have some kind of soft agreement in place that the car will be rubber-stamped, or else its just madness

 

[Maurice R]

What's the chance Emiras headed to California will have different emission setup/hardware than rest of US? This has happened with other US models I believe.

You are probably correct. Everything in CA is different and nuts. That’s why we live in TX lol

 

[VL3X]

the real issue is what took them so long to submit the paperwork? Then they chose to compound on that by telling their customers delivery dates when they had no official word they could even sell the car.

Exactly. What kind of business operates like this? How did they expect to deliver last year at all?

 

[action_turtle]

Exactly. What kind of business operates like this? How did they expect to deliver last year at all?

It feels like they didn't expect the paperwork on all this... which is a concern.

 

[kitkat]

You are probably correct. Everything in CA is different and nuts. That’s why we live in TX lol

I'm not trying to get into some childish states battle, but you're aware that Texas has emissions AND vehicle inspection right?

 

[kitkat]

Exactly. What kind of business operates like this? How did they expect to deliver last year at all?

Idk what to tell you buddy: Lotus.

 

[Cachaco131]

I'm not trying to get into some childish states battle, but you're aware that Texas has emissions AND vehicle inspection right?

He/she is just jealous because we can actually drive on hilly and twisty roads.

 

[Twin Cam]

Exactly. What kind of business operates like this? How did they expect to deliver last year at all?

They had this with some early Evora’s , from memory they were USA versions and ended up being sold at a reduced price in the UK as they didn’t meet American regs

 

[VL3X]

They had this with some early Evora’s , from memory they were USA versions and ended up being sold at a reduced price in the UK as they didn’t meet American regs

It's the same exact powertrain. The roadshow rep back in 2021 said there'd be no issues with certification with the Emira.

 

[kitkat]

It's the same exact powertrain. The roadshow rep back in 2021 said there'd be no issues with certification with the Emira.

Talking to someone who has experience with EPA emissions testing the whole situation confuses me.

- EPA emissions is self-certification.
- EPA can seize a car off the line/at port and test it themselves back in Ann Arbor.
- You can sell a vehicle without completely passing all EPA emissions tests. You can be over the limit for a few monitors and conditions so long as you disclose it to the EPA and they agree to allow you to sell it with the understanding it'll be fixed in the next model/year.
- Paperwork DOES take up to a year even from the self-certification.

So it sounds like maybe Lotus only submitted self-cert to EPA last November.