Lotus is making strong progress with its all new strategy which will include the brand’s first ever performance SUV. This will be the biggest shift the British sportscar manufacturer will experience since it was founded in 1948.
Operating under the Geely group, Lotus will be launching operations in Wuhan, China where four new models are set to be manufactured. Lotus Technology is a new division of the group and aims to push forward with a global ‘intelligent technology’ subsidiary which augments the brand’s DNA and technology accumulated over the 73 years that the manufacturer has existed. Its role is to accelerate innovation in the fields of batteries and energy management, electric motors, electronic control systems, intelligent driving, intelligent manufacturing and more.
The new Lotus Technology headquarters will be completed in 2024 while an all-new factory, to manufacture electric vehicles for global markets, will open later this year.
In 2022, Lotus will debut an E-segment SUV codenamed Type 132. It will be followed in 2023 by an E-segment four-door coupe, Type 133, and in 2025 by Type 134, a new D-segment SUV. This trio will be joined in 2026 by an all-new electric sports car titled the Type 135.
The new models are in addition to the Evija all-electric hypercar and the Emira, the last petrol-powered sports car from Lotus, which will both be built at Hethel, UK.
The development of the brand’s new premium lifestyle vehicles will take place on the Lotus Premium architecture, one of the four new vehicle platforms announced at the Driving Tomorrow global strategy conference in April.
The Premium architecture supports a wheelbase range from 2 889 mm to 3 100 mm and could be further expanded in the future. It supports the development of all types of passenger vehicles from C+ to E segments. Using 92 to 120 kWh batteries, it is compatible with the industry’s most advanced 800-volt high-speed EV charging system. Products developed on this platform will be capable of 0-100 km/h acceleration in under three seconds.
