Lotus Building a Hydrogen Taxi and Hybrid Limo

By Stuart Schwartzapfel

Lotus, the go-fast gurus who brought us the wonderful Elise and helped Tesla Motors with the Roadster, is developing a hydrogen fuel cell taxi that could be on the road by 2012 and hybrid Jaguar limo.

The company's Lotus Engineering division landed the contracts from Britain's Government Technology Strategy Board, which is investing $45.3 million in 16 low-emission vehicle projects. Lotus has a long racing pedigree and is known for building high-performance cars like the awesome 2-Eleven, but it's no stranger to green vehicles. The Tesla Roadster shares DNA with the Elise and is being built at the Lotus factory in Hethel, England, and Lotus has experimented with flex-fuel vehicles in recent years. Group Lotus chief executive Mike Kimberley says the company's expertise with lightweight vehicles and hybrid and electric drivetrains can provide "guilt-free performance motoring."

“There is a worldwide drive to reduce carbon dioxide emission levels and this is something to which we are dedicated, for both our Lotus cars and our global engineering clients,” he says.

Source: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/07/lotus-building.html