Click above for hi-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel

British sportscar-maker and engineering firm Lotus may be known for its lightweight vehicles, but in the industry it still packs a punch as a heavyweight. It's that weight which Lotus is throwing behind methanol as the most viable alternative fuel.

Towards that end, at this year's Geneva motor show Lotus unveiled the flex-fuel 270E prototype based on the lightweight Exige sportscar. The vehicle is designed to run on gasoline, ethanol or methanol, but it's the latter which the company feels is the most viable for the near future. Like bio-ethanol, methanol can be made from natural materials, or can be made from hydrogen combined with CO₂ pulled out of the thin air, which allows for zero-emissions operation. The most convenient aspect, however, is that most car engines on the road today could be converted to run on methanol.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - subs. req'd]

Click the Exige for a high-res gallery

Back in mid-2006, Lotus unveiled a flex-fuel E85-capable Exige 265E that was being used as a technology demonstrator. Lotus has used the 265E to learn about optimizing the performance and efficiency of ethanol and flex-fuel engines. At this week's Geneva Motor Show, Lotus is unveiling the next stage of this research with the Exige 270E Tri-Fuel. This one is capable of running on gasoline, ethanol or methanol. Paging Bob Zubrin: your car is ready. With an E85-compatible engine, the process of calibrating the powerplant basically involves a two-dimensional continuum of possible fuels going from gasoline to E85. Adding methanol into the mix adds a third dimension to the map and makes the question much more complex. Detecting the fuel blend and determining the appropriate fuel flow for optimal performance is more difficult in this scenario, but Lotus has done this and upped the power to 270hp.

The other aspect of this project is the work that Lotus is doing with researchers on synthetic methanol as an alternative to bio-ethanol. Lotus describes a method of producing a carbon-neutral methanol fuel by extracting atmospheric carbon dioxide and reacting with hydrogen to produce methanol and water. The idea is that the hydrogen could be produced by renewable means such as solar, wind, or tidal power -- or any number of other methods, for that matter. This has many advantages over using either hydrogen or electricity directly. It eliminates the issue of storing and transporting hydrogen as well as the limitations of batteries. As a liquid fuel, methanol could be relatively easily distributed and used. There is, of course, a big question of the efficiency of the whole cycle. There are also other means of producing methanol and, of course, other synthetic alcohols like butanol.


[Source: Lotus]