Lotus And NVIDIA Create Theory 1: The Future of Supercars

Lotus has always been an exciting brand; their cars were loved for their track performance and often hated for their interior room and reliability over time. However, over the years, cars have become far more usable while mainly retaining their phenomenal handling capabilities. The first Tesla car was based on a Lotus, and I rode in one, it handled like it was on rails, and rattled like it was moments away from turning into a pile of unassembled parts. But that was then, today with cars like Emira, Lotus have emerged as an affordable supercar maker who makes decent handling cars on which you generally can depend.

Their latest effort is Theory 1, which was done with NVIDIA to create what I believe is the most advanced Supercar currently in existence. Granted, you can’t buy it yet, but it showcases what should be the future of Supercars: something that is not only quick and handles well but also draws a crowd wherever it goes.

The Lotus Theory 1

The Lotus Theory 1 has a lot of highly advanced technology, starting with the grasshopper doors. These doors open back and up, uniquely allowing full access to the car's interior even if the parking space has no room. Now, with a supercar, you typically park them in the boonies because you sweat door dings, but many of us have tight garages, mainly if we collect cars like this, and these doors would make it far easier to park your car in a tight storage space. One shortcoming is the speed at which these doors open and close. For safety, they move slowly, but were you in the rain or snow, by the time you opened the doors, got in the car, and then closed them, you’d be soaked, suggesting they’ll need to speed this process up if they intend to put the car into production. However, watching these doors open and close is incredible,, so you may not drive the car in bad weather.

The headlights and taillights use laser wire technology I haven’t seen before, which results in a very unusual lighting experience. I’m not sure if this type of light can be approved in the US, but Europe has been far more innovative in terms of accepting new technologies, and these headlights are amazing-looking.

The interior features a central driving position favored in race cars, positioning the two passenger seats on each side of the driver and slightly back so they can easily converse. The material used appears weather-safe, and the seats have haptic features that alert the driver silently to what is happening around them. Electric cars can be very quiet inside, and a sudden blaring alarm can be jarring; this method of alerting is both innovative and may be more effective than the typical light and sound-based alerting systems because, even with the music cranked up, you’d still feel the prompts.

Other technologies include LOTUSWEAR 3D-printed interiors that are wild-looking but incredibly comfortable and personalized audio technology that can give each passenger a unique audio experience. This experience includes generated speed sounds, which enhance the driving experience, and enhanced active noise cancellation, which improves music quality or allows for deeper relaxation for the passengers.

NVIDIA And Self-Driving

This car comes with an NVIDIA-based self-driving solution. The cameras and Lidar elements are concealed until they are in use when they deploy out of the side of the car and the front hood to position the sensors properly while not detracting from the car's appearance while at rest.

This is one of the most interesting implementations of self-driving tech I’ve seen so far, and it is the first car I’ve seen that carries the NVIDIA branding. NVIDIA self-driving technology is considered the best because it uses Omniverse emulation to train the self-driving computer, making it far more capable with hundreds of days of experience that you can’t get by simply road testing.

Wrapping Up: Awesome Car!

Just looking at this car has me lusting after it. Performance is decent with a 2.6 second 0–60-time, 250-mile range, and a 200-mph top speed. Sadly, this car isn’t for sale; it is a technology showcase for the Lotus Engineers. However, Lotus is a small brand that typically wouldn’t have the R&D budget to create an incredible vehicle like this. But NVIDIA’s help and the availability of ever-lower-cost EV technologies have provided the perfect storm, allowing Lotus, with the Theory 1, to create a supercar that arguably is the most technically advanced in the market.

Go Lotus, excellent job, guys.

Rob Enderle is a technology analyst at Torque News who covers automotive technology and battery development. You can learn more about Rob on Wikipedia and follow his articles on Forbes, X, and LinkedIn.