Lotus has secured funding from the British government that will enable the British sports car maker to develop an all-new electric vehicle platform, Autocar reports. The funding will come from Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), which is backed by the British government, after Lotus had won the Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator competition.
The winning entry from Lotus is its Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture (LEVA), which the sports car firm plans to use as a showcase for a new battery electric vehicle chassis and powertrain concepts, it said, which is aimed at underpinning a range of next-generation electric vehicles.
LEVA is a platform that will be further developed with lightweight engineering specialists Sarginsons Industries, along with a team of academics from Brunel University London, the magazine reported, adding that Lotus has said it will confirm further details of the LEVA platform ‘in due course’.
“This is great news for our industry and its transition to electrification. As a collaboration between Lotus, Sarginsons Industries and Brunel University London, there’s a wealth of talent involved, and we’re excited to have already begun the project work,” said Lotus executive director of engineering Matt Windle.
This future model is ‘a key building block’ in the company’s vision for a full range of electrified Lotus models that will be to come, Windle added. Lotus has gone head-first into electrification with the debut of the Evija, featuring a 2,000 PS/1,700 Nm quad-electric-motor that will propel the car from 0-100 km/h in under three seconds, or 0-300 km/h in less than nine seconds.
Further afield, Lotus is due to unveil next year its first all-new model in 12 years since the arrival of the Evora, which will be built upon a rivet-bonded platform and feature a hybrid-electric petrol V6 powertrain, according to Autocar.
Automotive News Europe reported earlier in April that Lotus is developing an entry-level model that will be the brand’s final internal combustion-engined model before electrification arrives, which places it ahead of the hybrid V6 on the company’s timeline as described by Autocar.
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Funding from British gov? Typo error is it? Chinese gov kot.
Syukur to our British gov. Lotus norwich factory busy af, same as Jaguar jiran next door.
Yes it’s a Must to protect the pride of British glory
The clue is in the future first paragraph.
Didn’t you know that Britain dah jual to China ever since Brexit?