Lotus unveiled a fully-electric grand tourer (GT) sports car in New York on Thursday, the latest step in the British-based carmaker's plans to go from a niche storied brand to a mass manufacturer with sales of 150,000 cars a year by 2028.
The four-door Emeya will start production in 2024 at a factory in Wuhan, China run by Chinese automaker Geely, which jointly owns Lotus with Malaysia's Etika Automotive.
The GT should have a range of around 600km and a price roughly comparable to Lotus' Eletre SUV model, which started production this year and ranges in price from £90,000 (about R2,146,401) to £130,000 (about R3,105,419), chief commercial officer Mike Johnstone told Reuters.
Lotus reveals new all-electric Emeya grand tourer
Image: Supplied
Lotus unveiled a fully-electric grand tourer (GT) sports car in New York on Thursday, the latest step in the British-based carmaker's plans to go from a niche storied brand to a mass manufacturer with sales of 150,000 cars a year by 2028.
The four-door Emeya will start production in 2024 at a factory in Wuhan, China run by Chinese automaker Geely, which jointly owns Lotus with Malaysia's Etika Automotive.
The GT should have a range of around 600km and a price roughly comparable to Lotus' Eletre SUV model, which started production this year and ranges in price from £90,000 (about R2,146,401) to £130,000 (about R3,105,419), chief commercial officer Mike Johnstone told Reuters.
Image: Supplied
The GT has luxury features to make it more comfortable for long-distance driving. These include a KEF audio system with Dolby Atmos-enabled 3D surround sound.
The Emeya has a top speed of more than 250 km/h and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in under 2.8 seconds, making it one of the fastest electric GTs in the world. With fast-charging capability it can add 150km of range in approximately five minutes.
Johnstone said with Emeya, Lotus is targeting people "looking for something different in an electrified GT-style sports car".
Image: Supplied
"We expect, as we've already seen with Eletre, to see a number of people come over from German brands," Johnstone said.
"We're already seeing people come over from Tesla as well."
Since its founding in 1948, Lotus typically made 5,000 cars a year, but funded by Geely and Etika, the company has planned a massive expansion.
Lotus Technology, which includes Lotus Cars, is also due to go public this year via a merger with special purpose acquisition company L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp.
Image: Supplied
Johnstone said public listing remains on track.
Geely has a sprawling carmaking empire and has listed parts of Volvo Cars, including Polestar. Its premium Chinese luxury brand Zeekr is talking to investors about a possible initial public offering.
Geely also plans to turn the London Electric Vehicle Company, which makes iconic black taxis, into a high-volume, all-electric brand.
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