The crew from Hethel built the Concept Ice Vehicle for researchers who will cross the South Pole during the Moon Regan TransArctic Expedition. The point of the journey is to raise awareness of the impact global climate change is having on the continent, but we can't help thinking the explorers are making the trip as an excuse to play with their cool new toy.
It wouldn't do for researchers making a point about global warming to tool around a polar ice cap spewing C02, so Lotus made the CIV as green as it is white.
The CIV was built by Kieron Bradley, a former Formula 1 chassis designer, and polar guide Jason de Carteret. It burns biofuel and uses what looks to us like a BMW motorcycle engine to spin a huge propeller. The vehicle is 15 feet long and 15 feet wide and rides on three skis, each with independent suspension -- Lotus builds sports cars, after all -- to make traversing the sastruga fields a little easier on the guy in the cockpit. Braking comes from a spiked foot that works a bit like an ice axe.
In keeping with Lotus' design philosophy, the CIV is light - so light the crew can drag it across terrain too rough to ski over. Still, pulling it out of a crevasse would be a hassle, so there's a GPS and ice-penetrating radar system to warn of dangers on, and below, the ice.
The CIV scout the way for a pair of six-wheel drive "Science Support Vehicles" that will haul the team and its equipment. They're almost as cool as the ice vehicle. They've got low-emission, turbocharged 7.3-liter diesel engines, 20-speed transmissions and independent air suspensions with 26 inches of travel and 44-inch tires. Still, we're betting everyone will want to drive the CIV.
Photos by Lotus and Moon Regan TransArctic Expedition.
