Lotus hatching Evora 400 roadster

Lotus has revealed that it will spin off a roadster version of its flagship Evora 400 supercar, powered by the same 300kW/410Nm supercharged 3.5-litre V6 as the coupe.

The development of a drop top version of the Evora was revealed in an interview with Lotus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales, and Autocar magazine.

According to the British sports-car maker's boss, the conversion to a roadster is possible because the Evora is built around an extruded and bonded aluminium tub and there’s no structural rigidity issues removing the roof. Instead of a fabric roof the Lotus will use two removable panels that weigh just 3kg each.

According to Gales the decision to make the roadster was founded on demand from its US customers.

Lotus’ boss didn’t reveal any more technical information about the roadster, other than to say that engineers are “working on it now” and that he’d already driven a development model.

Like the 400 coupe, the roadster is expected to come here, but it’s not known how much more it will command over the regular 400 coupe. Indeed, local distributor Ateco has yet to confirm exact pricing for the coupe, which arrives early next year at an estimated price of around $200,000.

In any case both will be fast. Against the clock, the coupe 400, that is some 22kg lighter than the normal Evora, takes just 4.1 seconds to reach 100km/h and tops out at 300km/h.

To help cope with the added power and performance, Lotus claims the coupe is 60 per cent new, from its redesigned nose and tail styling, reworked aero and powerful AP Racing brakes.

It’s not known when the roadster will enter into production but, according to Gales, when it does it won't take as long to build as the coupe.

Speaking to Autocar, Gales also revealed the long-awaited all-new replacements for the Elise and Exige are now in development and both would be “faster and lighter” than the cars they replace.

Lotus’ CEO also said his firm is still well on the way to meeting its sales target of 3000 for 2015 and that the sports-car maker will be “cashflow-profitable in this financial year and profitable in the financial year beginning 1 April 2016 for the first time in 60 years.”