Lotus is working on a rather mysterious teaser campaign for the Type 132. Earlier this week, the brand unveiled the special active air intakes of the SUV, now the British are shining light on the Lidar scanner of the newcomer. There is something special about that.
The fact that the Lotus Type 132 will have technology that makes (semi) autonomous driving possible should come as no surprise at this time. It is of course already a special twist that the British brand comes up with an electric SUV, but the introduction of the lidar scanner represents a second break with Lotus’ past. For a brand that stands for pure and unadulterated driving pleasure, autonomous driving seems to be something you prefer to keep out of the door as much as possible. But times are changing and since Lotus has been owned by the Chinese Geely, the brand is clearly on a different course towards an electric and autonomous future.
The Lidar scanner that comes along in the Lotus teaser video is quite special. Most autonomous cars with such a system have it rather conspicuously on the roof. Elegant is different of course. Lotus seems to opt for the Type 132 to integrate the system in a cover on the roof. Lotus says nothing further about the system itself, but it is quite possible that it concerns the same kind of Lidar scanner as Volvo – also owned by Geely – will implement in the new XC90. From a cost-efficiency point of view, it would not exactly make sense to develop two separate lidar systems side by side.
It is conceivable that the Lotus system will just go in a different direction, because the brand has already indicated that it wants to develop driving systems that should make the driver faster on the circuit. However, it is not yet clear whether the Lidar scanner will play a role in this. The introduction of the Lotus Type 132 is planned for next year, so until then we have to guess.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl