LOTUS DESIGN DIRECTOR: Slippery, Fast & Agile.

In 1948, the now-famous engineer Colin Chapman founded the British automaker Lotus Cars. By adhering to his famous maxim, “simplify, then add lightness,” the business produced several highly successful road cars in addition to Formula One racers that won the World Championship.

After completing its transformation to an all-electric manufacturer with last year’s debut of the Emira, Lotus will shortly introduce the Eletre, its first high-performance all-electric SUV. The Evija, the company’s first electric vehicle, made its debut in 2019. It aims to produce 2000 PS and is powered by four separate 375 kW electric motors.

To better understand Russell Carr, Lotus’ Director of Design, and his process for creating some of the world’s most unique supercars, we had a conversation with him.

Russell Carr, Lotus’ Director of Design

Tell us about how you got your start in your industry, and how it led to the work you do today?

Like many in the industry, my path to becoming a designer started with combined childhood obsessions with cars and drawing that lead, at the age of 20, to me joining the Automotive Design degree course at Coventry University.

My first automotive design job was at MGA developments where, coincidentally, I was hired by Peter Horbury, who is once again my boss here at Lotus. During my time there I learned a lot, working on various different programmes as a junior designer and penning everything from truck roofs to motorcycles and show cars.

After two years at MGA I received an offer to join Lotus. Having been a huge fan of both Lotus road and racing cars since I was a child, this was a dream. I think every eight-year-old of that era had a toy of the iconic black and gold Lotus type 72 F1 car and knew the white Esprit driven by James Bond.

When my friend and boss, Julian, left Lotus I was promoted to run the design studio and almost immediately had to take on the huge responsibility of designing the replacement for the iconic S1 Elise. In the subsequent years, I have overseen the design numerous sportscars for Lotus as well as many third-party consultancy projects.

Since the 2017 acquisition of Lotus by Geely, we have had a fantastic opportunity to completely reinvent the Lotus range starting with Evija Hypercar

Emira design sketch with aero flow.

How do you know when a design is “good”?

Whether a design is aesthetically ‘good’ is ultimately down to eyes of the beholder, making it something we can only really measure through the critical acclaim or commercial success a project enjoys.

For a subjective topic like this, the only way we can test whether its ‘good’ during the development process is by reviewing with our colleagues in the design team, as they never fail to offer an opinion.

However, design is down to a collection of attributes, not just aesthetics, which include more objective things like ergonomics, aerodynamics, cost and legislative compliance which can of course be measured.

How would you sum up your design philosophy?

There is a long answer and a short one, but to put it simply every design should be beautiful, innovative, memorable, thrilling, and consistent with the company’s brand values.

For me, a Lotus has to be a combination of form and function. In the case of many key attributes such as aerodynamic efficiency, weight, and driving dynamics what we do with the design (the surfaces, the features and proportions) should not only enhance the attribute but also express it visually. The car should look slippery, fast and agile even to those who don’t know that it is.

How do you combine beauty and function?

Form and function have historically been characteristics of all Lotus road and race cars, and we therefore strive to maintain this balance in our modern products as well. Pilots often say if it looks right, it will fly right, and I think this often holds true for cars too.

In my experience the only way to achieve this balance is through healthy dialogue between the designers and the technical experts. Only when both sides understand what the other is trying to achieve can you hope to move forward by proposing solutions that are mutually advantageous.

I think the memorable “carved by air “design language on Evija, that combines aerodynamic efficiency with beautiful sculpture is a great example of this.

What inspires you?

From a form perspective I am inspired by anything connected with speed and beauty, whether it’s from the natural world or is man-made.

In general terms I am energised by seeing or experiencing things that I have never seen or experienced before.

What do you see for the future of design?

The future of design is very strong. The public are more product savvy than ever, and they expect things that are visually engaging, functionally innovative and high quality. Design is the centre of this, meaning that design is also at the centre of every successful brand.

What are you working on at the moment?

Future Lotus vehicles and consultancy work for third-party companies. Everything is very excited although, sadly, confidential.

What is your favourite project to date and why?

The Evija has been my favourite project to date, it was special on so many levels.

The chance to design a hypercar is a once-in-a-lifetime experience; to do it for Lotus, who should, but had never built one before, was a unique privilege. If you add to this the fact that it was the first British EV hypercar, the most powerful road car produced, and a statement of intent for a new design language that would influence an entire range of future cars, you can understand why it was an exceptional project.

New propulsion system and all-new platform also gave us freedom to optimise proportions and explore new sculpture on both the exterior and interior.

Which project are you most proud of so far and why?

I am most proud of both the Evija and the Emira.

They have both achieved what we set out to do in that they are regarded as beautiful products which perfectly fit our brand values and have attracted customers to the Lotus marque – including some who had never previously owned, or even heard of, a Lotus before.

What was the best advice anyone ever gave you, and did you follow it?

The two best pieces of advice I’ve ever received were, “never be afraid to ask questions,” which is essential to any creative process, and “find something you are passionate about.”

The worst advice was from a career adviser, who told me: “Don’t dream of being a car designer because there is no such thing, all cars are designed by engineers, and you aren’t smart enough to be an engineer.”

Luckily, I didn’t listen.

Discover more: Lotus Cars