Lotus’s first all-new production car in 12 years is a final “celebration of the glories of combustion” before the famous British firm steps into its electrified future.
Taking the name Emira, which means “commander” in several ancient languages, he will be revealed on July 6. With the electric hypercar Evija, the new Emira, developed under the code name Type 131 and designed to rekindle the spirit of the Spirit, will launch a major product offensive from Hethel as part of its ongoing Vision 80 relaunch plan. .
Future models of the Geely-owned company will be based on one of four new platforms, including a premium one that will give birth to its first SUV and one for electric sports cars. The Emira is rumored to be a hybrid but, as Autocar first reported, the new Porsche 911 rival will be offered with a choice of two petrol engines: a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. from a still unknown new partner engine and the supercharged 3.5-liter Toyota V6 used in the Evora.
The Emira will be built on Lotus’ lightweight aluminum sports car platform (known internally as Elemental), a heavily reworked version of the Evora base, and will have styling influenced by the ‘Evija. The Emira will be the last gas-only Lotus, with all future hybrid or fully electric models.
The switch to electric vehicles was started by the Evija, which is based on Lotus’s new Hypercar architecture.
The third platform will be the Premium Architecture (dubbed Evolution), used for a range of “lifestyle vehicles” designed to sell at higher volumes, including this first SUV.
Although the development of this platform has been led by the UK, the cars it generates will largely be manufactured at a new Lotus factory in Wuhan, China.
The final platform is the architecture of the electric sports car (codenamed E Sports) which is jointly developed with the sports car arm of the Renault group, Alpine.
New Lotus boss Matt Windle said the platform would be “flexible and modular” and the first car based on it would be “an exciting new sports car icon for the Lotus brand”. Windle added that the goal was for the EV to have “the same weight as our latest combustion engine sports cars.”
Windle stressed that Lotus will remain committed to performance throughout its transformation as part of the Vision 80 plan. This will be one of the core values of the brand, alongside smart technology and sustainability.
Lotus promises that its cars will continue to be developed with an emphasis on innovative thinking, lightweight design, advanced aerodynamics and “exceptional” ride and handling qualities.
The company will also increase the technology it offers in its models, including electrified powertrains and new user interfaces, while promising that all new systems will remain focused on simplicity.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-27 11:16:24
