This is what Lotus thinks endurance racers will look like in 2030

Lotus Engineering is – surprisingly – the engineering consultancy division of Lotus Cars. Anyway, introductions over, this is its latest project; an electric endurance racer that apparently “could be on the starting grid of circuits around the world for the 2030 season".

Essentially, it’s a rendered tech showcase for Lotus Engineering and features a number of futuristic (and possibly unrealistic) touches. Take the ‘morphing’ body panels on the delta-wing profile that deliver minimum drag on the straights and maximum downforce in the corners. Very nice.

Those vertical surfaces at the rear would also be used to aerodynamically aid turn-in, and Lotus says the result is “a racer that’s partly driven like a car and partly flown like a fighter jet". Of course. 

That cockpit also gives off plenty of fighter jet vibes, and there’s the obligatory Lotus JPS-style livery. Suppose we best tell you what it’s called too – it’s known as the E-R9. E-R for Endurance Racer and 9 as a reference to the Lotus Mark IX that introduced the Norfolk-based company to Le Mans back in 1955.

The E-R9 would be powered by the electric powertrain from the Evija, but Lotus says it’d power each wheel individually and that it’d use torque vectoring that could be adapted by the driver on the move. 

What do we think of Lotus’ future thoughts, folks?