In addition to the just announced Emira, Lotus is unveiling many more plans for the future under the heading ‘Driving Tomorrow’. The brand works on four different platforms, for just as many different car types.
Lotus is on steam, at least in theory. It is fair to say that the brand has regularly presented plans in the past that later turned out not to be realized, but under the large and serious Geely, the future of Lotus still looks promising.
The planning of that future began with the electric hypercar Evija, followed by the announcement that more sports enthusiasts are in the barrel. One of those cars now turns out to be the Emira, a sports car that is still equipped with combustion engines.
Sports Car Architecture
That Emira is on what Lotus internally calls the Elemental base, the platform that seems to fit the original Lotus philosophy best. According to Lotus, this platform is flexible, light and consists largely of aluminum. Nevertheless, a lot has changed compared to previous Lotuses: especially the dimensions would deviate significantly from what we are used to from the brand.
Hypercar Architecture
The Evija is on the Extreme platform and emphatically falls into the hypercar category. Lotus is not yet talking about other models on this basis and we probably should not expect them either. Of course, the Evija will not remain the only electric Lotus, but the other EVs of the brand must be placed on platform number 3.
Electric Sports Car Architecture
In collaboration with Alpine, which is currently making a Lotus-like car with the A110, Lotus is coming up with a platform especially for electric sports cars. This E-Sports base is for relatively light EVs that according to the inventors should combine the light-footed Lotus character with an electric powertrain. We can safely take that lightweight seriously: Lotus states that it wants these electric cars to be as light as the traditionally powered Lotuses that they will precede, such as the Evora and the yet to be revealed Emira.
Premium Architecture
The Premium Architecture is least for Lotus enthusiasts, but most interesting for Geely shareholders. Lotus takes it a bit more silently by stating that this platform forms the basis for a wide range of Lotus’ lifestyle vehicles, cars that must ensure that ‘a new era of higher volumes and significant income’ must dawn. Freely translated: this is the platform on which the first Lotus SUV will be placed. According to Lotus, the technical basis is being developed in the United Kingdom, but with the help of teams from China, Sweden (Volvo) and Germany.
Remarkably, Lotus does not mention LEVA in the new plans, the platform that was announced in October.
EAS-IP
Lotus summarizes its future plans with the term ‘EAS-IP’. Those who can’t stand marketing talk should now read something else, but it stands for Electrify, Amplify, Simplify, Itensify and Personify. We will spare you the extensive explanation, but in short: after the Emira, every new Lotus will be electric. In addition, Lotus focuses on innovative technologies, while still remaining true to the philosophy of founder Colin Chapman, who believed that simplicity and low weight should come before everything else. Then there is also ‘Personify’. According to Lotus, this stands for a strong brand identity, but also for cars that ‘adapt to the taste of the customer’ in any way whatsoever.