California Emissions Have Prevented Delivery of This $100K Lotus to Customers Since 2021

The years-long challenge that esteemed British automaker Lotus endured to get its 2021 Emira delivered to U.S. customers is finally coming to a close. Supply chain constraints and stringent emissions regulations have delayed delivery to customers. According to a report from Motor1, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has yet to issue approval for the sports car's emissions. As a result, hundreds of Emiras have been sitting on dealership lots around the country for years.

Why the Hold-Up?

Due to the Clean Air Act of 1970, new production vehicles have been coming with catalytic converters in the U.S. since 1975. In our current era's push to curb CO2 emissions, however, stricter regulations have emerged, which is where CARB comes into play.

The typical catalytic converter utilizes a chemically coated substrate where precious metals like rhodium, platinum, and palladium work as catalysts to convert raw exhaust into less toxic gasses like nitrogen, water, and carbon dioxide. Hence the name catalytic converter. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set and overseen the standards that a vehicle's catalytic converter must meet to get approval since the '70s. The CARB standards, which the Golden State established in 2009, have more elaborate certification requirements.

The difference between CARB-certified catalytic converters and EPA ones is that the former uses a superior washcoat technology combined with higher levels of precious metals. Think of it as a stricter standard resulting in improved emissions conversions. A CARB-certified catalytic converter also comes with Executive Order (EO) numbers the manufacturer marks on its body. Someone can check the EO number against the CARB website to ensure it matches a registered EO number.

Because of the stringent CARB standards, any CARB-compliant catalytic converter will also be EPA-compliant. However, EPA-compliant catalytic converters can miss the CARB mark because of the EPA's lower standards. As of January 2024, 14 different states require vehicles to be CARB-compliant. According to Motor1, Lotus is refusing to sell the Emira in the 36 states currently adhering to the EPA's catalytic converter standards because consumers could purchase the Emira in a non-compliant CARB state (Arizona) and flip it into a CARB-compliant one (New Mexico), in which case the vehicle would not qualify to be registered.

Lotus Has a CARB-Compliant Solution

The six-cylinder version of the Emira sports Toyota's 2GR-FE 3.5-liter V6 engine combined with an Edelbrock 1740 supercharger to generate 400 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. While Toyota's V6 has met CARB standards before, the one in the Emira has yet to receive CARB approval. However, Motor1 reports that Lotus has released software updates that the company says will allow the Emira's powertrain to operate CARB-compliantly. Even though Lotus has made these updates, CARB has yet to issue its seal of approval.

Here's Our Fantasyland Solution

In a world where we have $100,000 to purchase an Emira, along with boatloads of additional money to hire the best lawyers, we'd pull a Bill Gates to spearhead the creation of a law, like the Show and Display rule he played a crucial role in enacting. Gate's Porsche 959 did not meet the EPA's or Department of Transportation's requirements (because the German automaker was not fond of submitting the 959 for crash testing when they only manufactured 329 of them). Yet he still found a way to legally get his hands on his prized 959 by creating a new law that specifically allowed him to do so. As Sir Anthony Hopkins says before setting out to kill a bear in The Edge, “What one man can do, another can do!”

Also, if you're wondering why a British sports car company has a Japanese motor under the hood, it's because the company has changed hands many times since its founder, Colin Chapman, died of a heart attack in 1982. Starting in 1986, companies such as GM, Toyota, ACBN Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, Malaysian car maker Proton, and Geely have owned Lotus internationally. The Chinese multinational Geely currently owns a 51 percent stake in the company. Lotus gets around for a company started by a college kid building a race car in a garage in the 1940s. And if CARB approves Lotus' software updates, the Emira will also be making its way around American roads.