Lotus has confirmed that it will unwrap its all-electric Type 130 hypercar at an exclusive event in Central London on 16 July. It’s the British brand’s first all-new model in over a decade and signals the firm’s rebirth under its new owner, the Chinese auto giant Geely.
The Norfolk-based firm has confirmed the Type 130 received several hundred ‘expressions of interest’ from potential customers following the announcement of the project at the Shanghai Motor Show earlier in the year. Production will be strictly limited to 130 units, all of which will be assembled at the brand’s headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk.
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To mark this latest announcement, Lotus has released a shadowy teaser video detailing the Type 130’s electrically-operated charging port cover. Other than a heavily-disguised side-profile teaser image from Shanghai, little else has been revealed about the car’s styling. Our exclusive render (below) previews how the Type 130’s design could look in production form.
Speaking about the project, Lotus CEO Phil Popham told Auto Express: “Type 130 will be the most dynamically accomplished Lotus in our history. It marks a turning point for our brand as it is a showcase of what we are capable of, and what is to come for Lotus.”
Auto Express understands that Geely is giving Lotus the freedom to create its new hypercar. Its design is being led by Russell Carr, who has been at Hethel since 2010, while engineer Gavan Kershaw, who has over three decades of experience at Lotus, has been appointed ‘Director of Attributes’ to ensure that the new model carries enough of the Lotus DNA.
It’s likely that Type 130 will be the first Lotus to feature engineering developed with Williams. The two companies confirmed a “strategic technical partnership” back in January, saying they would research “advanced propulsion technologies” with an emphasis on fully electric powertrains.
Lotus’s partnership with Williams grants the British brand access to its own battery and electric motor systems, meaning it won’t have to borrow technology from other Geely brands, such as Polestar. Power is expected to be in the region of 1,000bhp.
Geely also recently confirmed that it has broken ground on a $1.3bn (£1bn) factory in Wuhan, China, that will make Lotus cars. It’s only Lotus’s second manufacturing site overseas and should start production of the brand’s lesser models by 2022. However, with a capacity of 150,000 cars a year, it’s unlikely to be exclusive to Lotus.
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