Italdesign Emas3 Concept
Emas3 is the City interpretation: the five-door configuration has been left unchanged while the architecture has undergone drastic changes to reduce the wheelbase by 550 mm to contain the total length within just 3 metres.
The doors used are the same as on the Country version, 1350 mm and allowing easy access, even to rear seat passengers.
The front-end emphasises the different outfit: unlike its big sister, the fog lights are trapezoid in shape and joined by a large rectangular air intake.
The tailgate, produced specifically for this version, is more upright in order to ensure plenty of passenger headroom and acceptable load capacity despite the compact exterior.
The passenger room drops to 3+1 Plus seats. The passenger seated behind the driver has less leg-room but there is still enough space even for an adult.
Depending on the number of batteries chosen to increase the range of this version, devised with solely plug-in electric traction, the passenger room could drop to three or two seats if necessary, with a large luggage compartment.
A glance at the interiors
The first aspect that strikes you, even before you discover the car interiors, is the door handle: an ergonomic design that incorporates a set of secondary controls that vary from place to place.
The driver can use the handle grip to control all four power windows, door locking and unlocking, the courtesy lights, side mirror adjustment and electrical lowering of the rear head restraint to improve visibility while reversing.
The front passenger can also adjust the hi-fi system as well as his or her own window. The rear passengers can also adjust their seats from the handle grip.
Two TFT panels dominate the dashboard. They are housed side by side in the centre of the dashboard, at a concave angle.
The right-hand monitor shows the speedometer and the main car operating indicators in addition to hybrid system energy flows.
The left-hand monitor shows secondary information such as screens for the hi-fi system, telephone and internet access browser plus personalised car set-up parameters.
A third display, located beneath the central console, is a touch screen that controls all the car's main and secondary functions. The right part of this TFT screen permanently displays the climate system temperature and air flows.
The lower part of the central console, housing the ignition button and gear selector, extends towards the tunnel and can be folded down. When parking in a tight spot, forcing the driver or front passenger to leave the car from the opposite side, this central element can be lowered and the seat moved back so that they can get out on the other side without hindrance.
The central console also houses two USB ports to connect digital music players and mobile phones, plus an SD card slot for satellite navigation maps.
This dock is interchangeable and can house other phone and smartphone models. It can recharge the phones and connect them automatically to the car without the need to use other coupling systems.
Powered by Lotus Engineering
The drive system is a series hybrid plug-in developed by Lotus Engineering, a Proton Group company. It includes a 3 cylinder 1.2 litre internal combustion engine developing 51 horsepower (38 kW) at 3500 rpm that can run on petrol, ethanol, or methanol.
The front transverse internal combustion engine is coupled to a generator and serves exclusively to recharge the 11.5 kWh capacity lithium ion batteries.
Drive is assured by an electric motor with continuous power of 45 kW and 75 kW peak power.
The high maximum torque, 240 Nm, does not require the use of a gearbox.
Acceleration 0-100 km/h takes place in 14 seconds, top speed is 170 km/h and battery range in the hybrid configuration is 50 km. Full recharging of the battery pack takes three hours using a traditional 240-volt outlet.
The performance and range of the City three door electric plug-in version are currently being assessed.
