The Lotus Emira heralded both the end and the beginning of an era. It is the last Lotus with a combustion engine before the brand switches to all-electric powertrains. Lotus today sheds more light on the technology of its electric newcomers.
The well-laid-back Chinese Geely isn’t kidding. The major shareholder of Lotus makes Lotus a fully electric brand, if the recently introduced Emira waves goodbye, a new Lotus with combustion engine will never be built again. Lotus will come next year with a second electric car after the Evija, nota bene also an SUV. That car, which is codenamed Type 132, will be accompanied by a four-door coupe (Type 133) in 2023. A second electric SUV will be added in 2024. Lotus will not introduce a new electric sports car until 2026. It is therefore evident that Lotus is no longer the brand you have known for decades, although electric SUVs may secure the financial future of the brand.
Lotus has presented a modular and, in its own words, lightweight basis for its new electric models. The brand already proposes various configurations. For example, Lotus mentions a configuration for two-seaters with a wheelbase of 2.47 to 2.65 meters that offers space for batteries with a capacity of up to 66.4 kWh. Those ‘shortest’ models have a single electric motor that produces a maximum of 476 horsepower. In Lotus’ larger two-seaters, cars with a wheelbase of at least 2.65 meters, up to 99.6 kWh large battery packs are possible. Thanks to their larger size, these cars also offer space for not one, but two electric motors that, according to Lotus, together make a maximum of 884 hp. Fiercely. The battery pack, up to about 100 kWh, is in these versions – just as with the Evija – as a kind of ‘box’ behind the front seats, the smaller variants are incorporated in the floor and, according to Lotus, are mainly suitable for ‘cars with a larger ground clearance’. This suggests, among other things, that one of the SUVs that Lotus is working on will be a two-seater.
Lotus SUV
Lotus also sheds light on its ‘2+2’ models that it has in the pipeline, although it is not yet entirely clear whether this will also include one of the brand’s first electric SUVs. These cars will also have a wheelbase of at least 2.65 meters, but – probably due to the placement of a small rear seat – less space for batteries. These 2+2s have a battery pack of up to 66.4 kWh and the maximum 476 hp single electric motor or the two units together with a maximum of 884 hp.
Lotus is heading for a very different future, one that is loaded with electric SUVs, although there are also the necessary real fun machines. If those SUVs can ensure the survival of Lotus, that’s a sacrifice that the purists will have to take for granted. Where would Porsche be today without cars like the Macan, Cayenne, Panamera and Taycan…
– Thanks for information from Techzle.nl