Lotus has announced that it is working with British energy services and solutions company Centrica to develop a new ownership model that will fully integrate future mobility and energy. This aims to make the electrified car an extension of the home that is capable of storing electricity and generating income by providing services to the energy market, said the British sports car maker.
The collaboration also aims to ‘redefine the customer relationship with cars’ to one that is controlled by smart devices, both at home and while on the move, it said. Centrica will also facilitate a sustainability programme that will make use of low-carbon emissions technologies, thus helping to mitigate the environmental impact of Lotus’ operations from manufacturing, sales and day-to-day activities of Lotus staff, it added.
“Our journey to net-zero carbon is absolutely lock-in-step with the Vision80 strategy for Lotus – taking us to eighty years of the business in 2028,” said Lotus CEO Phil Popham. The sports car maker will, by then, feature a new range of cars, though the difference will be the energy and infrastructure that will power and support these models in the future, he added.
Lotus unveiled its first fully electric model, the Evija last July, with very lofty performance numbers – A pair of high-power density electric motors supplied by Integral Powertrain drive all four wheels with 2,000 PS and 1,700 Nm of torque in total, propelling the Evija from 0-100 km/h in under three seconds, 100-200 km/h in a similar duration and 200-300 km/h in under four seconds.
The Evija is also Lotus’ first to be built around a one-piece carbon-fibre monocoque chassis, which weighs 129 kg on its own. All in and with a 70 kWh lithium-ion battery, Lotus aims to bring the Evija to production at a target weight of 1,680 kg, with a claimed range of 400 km under WLTP testing procedures. A full charge takes just nine minutes when an 800 kW ultra-fast charger is used, or 18 minutes when charged with the more commonly available 350 kW fast charger.
Production of the all-electric Evija is slated to begin later this year in Hethel, and it will be limited to a run of 130 units in total. This will be the first completely new car launched under Geely stewardship, following the Chinese automaker group’s acquisition of a 51% stake in September 2017. The remaining 49% is held by Malaysian automotive group Etika Automotive.
GALLERY: Lotus Evija
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