Lotus reveals sketch of upcoming electric sports car, and a new battery partnership in the UK.
Lotus
- Lotus will collaborate on research and development of EV technology with UK-based Britishvolt.
- The automaker has published a sketch of electric sports car featuring some similarities in profile to the classic Esprit.
- Lotus will begin deliveries of the Evija electric hypercar—a separate project—later this year with a 1972-hp output, and will also reveal its first electric SUV, codenamed Type 132.
Lotus has no shortage of planned models on the drawing board, both gasoline and electric, and it has just shared a very rough sketch of its first electric sports car. Slated to arrive in 2026, the as-yet-unnamed model codenamed Type 135 could well be a successor to the Esprit.
The Type 135 had been mentioned months prior in a roadmap shared by the automaker, with Lotus planning to launch a two-seater and a closely related 2+2 model with a longer wheelbase, both of them electric. Lotus went as far as to detail battery sizes in that EV sports car roadmap—66.4 kWh and 99.6 kWh—with two battery layout plans. Depending on the model, Lotus plans for batteries to be positioned underneath the floor, in the familiar skateboard style, or stacked behind the two seats, mimicking a mid-engine layout.
This month Lotus also revealed just who it will be working with on battery cell technology for that sports car, with the automaker announcing that it will collaborate with battery cell expert Britishvolt on research and development of electric vehicle tech. The battery specialist has been working on optimizing energy density in batteries, fast-charging technology, and weight reduction—something very familiar to Lotus.
The sketch of the planned EV reminded some of the classic Esprit model.
Autoweek
“Lotus is delighted to be collaborating with Britishvolt to develop new battery cell technology to showcase the thrilling performance that a Lotus EV sports car can deliver,” said Matt Windle, managing director of Lotus Cars. “These are the first exciting steps on the journey towards an all-new electric sports car from Lotus, and yet another step towards the transformation towards sustainable, renewable electricity stored in batteries.”
Before the electric sports car gets here in 2026, Lotus will launch plenty of other models including a battery-electric SUV codenamed Type 132, scheduled to be revealed later this year, while also starting deliveries of the 1972-hp Evija hypercar before the year’s out.
Speaking of things that start with the numbers 197, the sketch shared by Lotus this month is notable for appearing to be a nod to the long-serving Esprit, produced from the mid-1970s all the way through 2004. The best-remembered version of the Esprit is also perhaps the earliest, with the automaker embracing the wedge shape penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro at the time, and updating it through the years.
“Last year we committed Lotus to a pure electric future, and in the first month of this year we announce another significant step on that journey,” said Windle. “In the coming months we will be unveiling the Type 132, an all-new and all-electric Lotus SUV, and we’ve confirmed three more EVs are on the way.”
Keyword: Future Lotus EV Could Be a Nod to the Esprit