In 2030, even your grandmother will be fully electric, that’s how fast the change is. Lotus is not left behind. The Lotus Evija with almost 2,000 hp was the major electric breakthrough from the English town of Hethel. Soon this all-destroying hypercar will be joined by the Lotus Type 132, a slightly more sensible and moreover electric SUV. The Type 133, Type 134 and Type 135 will come later. You can probably see the latter in the sketch above.
Lotus, like many other brands, is developing a new electric platform that is scalable. This allows them to develop multiple electric vehicles on the same chassis. Lotus names its platform Project LEVA. The funny thing about this platform is that you can play with the battery placement for a different weight distribution. For example, with the batteries stacked behind the driver, the car has the weight distribution of a mid-engined car.
At Project LEVA, the batteries can also simply be placed in the ground for a low center of gravity and maximum interior space. The platform must be able to accommodate batteries from 66 to 100 kWh and the power of future electric Lotuses on this platform is between 450 and 900 hp.
Lotus’ new electric sports car gets batteries from Britishvolt
Britishvolt is allowed to develop the batteries. Other issues the two companies will be working on include fast charging, energy density optimization and weight reduction. The latter is literally ingrained in Lotus’ DNA. Car enthusiasts can dream of Colin Chapman’s quote. This is probably where the biggest challenge lies: batteries weigh quite a bit.
“These are the first exciting steps towards an all-new electric sports car from Lotus,” said company chief Matt Windle of the partnership with Britishvolt. “It’s another step towards the transformation to sustainable, renewable electricity stored in batteries.”
Lotus is owned by Geely
You know Lotus from lightweight sports cars that have basically been more or less the same for years. Where does the urge to change course come from all of a sudden? Besides the fact that it has to be from the regulations, Lotus has had a new owner for a few years now. The Chinese Geely bought the brand. Geely also owns Volvo, Lynk & Co and Polestar. So they are in good company in Hethel when it comes to electrification.
The Lotus Emira is the brand’s last pure petrol car, after which the brand will invest heavily in electricity. In addition to an electric hypercar and an electric sports car, there will also be an electric SUV from Lotus. The purists may not agree with the latter, but it is a smart move from a business point of view. Just look at what the Urus did for Lamborghini, or the DBX for Aston Martin.
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