Lotus works on a new entry-level sports car for ‘everyday’ use



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By Jason Woosey Time of published articleApr 24, 2020

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Norwich, England: You can associate words like “light” and “low” with Lotus, but the phrase “everyday usability” probably never occurred to you while daydreaming about these British sports cars. Let’s face it: these cars are great for track days, but not exactly ideal for the daily grind.

But that could change with the new entry-level model that Lotus is working on. According to Automotive News Europe, the new Lotus will have enough interior space for daily use.

The new model will reportedly also be the last combustion-powered car Lotus creates, and it will be sold alongside the much more expensive Evija. In that sense, ANE also reports that the new entry model will be inspired by the design of the aforementioned electric hypercar.

Lotus CEO Phil Popham also revealed, in an interview, that sedans and SUVs could be part of the mix later, though sports cars would remain the core of the brand.

There are some interesting possibilities here after Geely’s purchase of a majority stake in Lotus three years ago. Since the Chinese automaker also owns Volvo, it is quite possible that some of these future Lotus creations may have some Swedish genes.

In fact, we’d be surprised if there wasn’t at least some Volvo technology in the new entry-level sports car. Details, of course, are under wraps for now.

Lotus hopes to attract new buyers with the upcoming sports car, which will cost from £ 55,000 (R1.2m) in the UK, according to Automotive News Europe. This positions it between the Porsche 718 and 911 range in terms of prices.

Lotus Evija.

At the other end of the spectrum, Lotus will also launch its Evija electric hypercar, which will cost around 2 million pounds (R46.6m). But for that you will get a car that claims to be the most powerful “serial production” road car in the world, with an estimated output of 1470kW and 1700Nm. The Evija will also be the lightest EV hypercar in the world, weighing just 1,680 kg. This can be attributed to its one-piece carbon fiber monocoque structure.

IOL Motoring



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