While Lotus is best-known for its light weight sports cars, the automaker’s engineering division is earning a reputation for green technology. One of the most recent projects to come out of Lotus Engineer is a range extender engine that works similar to the one found in the Chevy Volt.

The 1.2-liter 3-cylinder powerplant makes 47-hp on its own, but can be loaded up to 400-hp thanks to the addition of two electric motors and a lithium-polymer battery pack. The system is a plug-in setup and allows for 35 miles of emissions free driving with a total range of 300 miles. Those numbers are about as good as the Volt’s, plus, in a car like the Evora it also allows for a 4.0 second 0-60 mph time.

Needless to say, this technology has been well received and Lotus Engineering claims three major automakers are currently weighing a decision to lace orders ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 units per year. In addition, Lotus says many smaller automakers are also looking at placing orders for between 100 and 1,000 units.

GALLERY:Lotus 414E Hybrid

[Source: AutoCar]

In front of a select audience, Jaguar took the wraps off its Limo-Green Concept, a hybrid version of the company’s newly-released 2010 XJ flagship. The car will appear at the Frankfurt Auto Show starting tomorrow (September 15th).

Powered by a 145kw (195hp) and 295 ft-lb electric motor and a 1.2-liter gasoline engine (developed by Lotus), the car is capable of 30 miles under pure electric power before the gasoline engine kicks in to provide an extended range of 600 miles. Jaguar says the car is rated at 57 mpg and a top speed of 112 mph.

The Limo-Green is more than just a fanciful concept car, however, and Jaguar says it will begin testing a production model next year. Anthony Harper, head of research at Jaguar Land Rover, told the U.K.’s AutoCar that Jaguar originally began testing this Range Extender engine in the previous XJ but decided to switch to the new chassis when it debuted just a few months back.

Jaguar won’t set a date for when the Limo-Green Concept could see production and did warn that it could be a while as the parts involved are still prohibitively expensive and not quite up to Jaguar standards yet.

[Source: AutoCar]

Lotus’s engineering department is constantly working on new projects that will make cars not only faster, but also more efficient. The company’s latest project is the Lotus Range Extender Engine, a hybrid drivetrain that serves as an off-the-shelf solution for existing automakers looking for a hybrid engine for a mini-car.

By designing this new engine from scratch, rather than using existing parts from an existing engine, Lotus engineers were able to re-think the entire process. As a result, the Range Extender Engine is far lighter and simpler than existing hybrid powerplants.

Using a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine, mated to an electric motor, the Range Extender Engine weighs just 124 lbs. This was achieved by using a monoblock design where the cylinder head and block are one piece, eliminating the need to a head-gasket (and 16 other parts), improving the engine’s strength and reducing weight. The exhaust manifold is also an integrated part of the monoblock, eliminating 18 more parts.

As for power output, the engine makes 47hp at 3500 rpm and 79 ft-lbs of torque at 2500 rpm.

“Most series hybrid vehicles that are currently being developed will use adaptations of existing, conventional engines which are therefore compromised in the efficiency that they can achieve, designed as they are for a wide range of operating conditions,” says Simon Wood, Technical Director of Lotus Engineering. “Designing the Lotus Range Extender purely for use in series hybrids has allowed us instead to develop an optimized engine that has high thermal efficiency, low fuel consumption, multi-fuel capability and a 35 kW peak output from a 1.2 liter, low cost architecture over the precise operating range required by a series hybrid drivetrain.”

Lotus will official debut the Range Extender Engine at the Frankfurt Auto Show next week alongside the 2010 Elise Club Racer and the 2010 Exige Cup 260.

Official release after the jump:

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