Ah, Lotus. The last pure car manufacturer. With a motto averse to complexity, Colin Chapman’s axiom of “Simplicity, then add lightness” has kept the brand focused on one priority: drivability.
Sure, it may not be a terribly profitable standard to hold yourself to, especially in this age of more-is-more, but there’s a refreshing honesty to their approach.
What, then, to make of Autoblog’s report that a Lotus SUV has been spied booting around England? Spy pics show a Lynk & Co. 01 chassis mounted awkwardly on a powertrain it doesn’t quite fit on. That it’s been sighted near Lotus’s Hethel, England headquarters is fueling rumors that it’s a super-sized Lotus hiding under there.
Further bolstering that claim is that both companies share a parent in China’s Geely, along with corporate-sibling Volvo. Could this lead to the three manufacturers sharing parts and drivetrains?
It’s been previously reported that Lotus are planning an all-electric hyper-car, the creatively named 130, which will be the first battery-powered Lotus (Tesla Roadsters notwithstanding.) That this mystery SUV has a taped-off gas cap and voltage sticker on the windshield suggests that this may be an EV, as well.
There’s not enough info at the time to state one way or the other if a Lotus SUV is on the horizon. If so, it would be an interesting change in approach for the company. How the corporate philosophy toward weight-reduction would apply to a larger vehicle will be interesting to see.
It’s a difficult marketplace for the storied British brand. Modern sports cars are still expected to come equipped with the latest tech. Yet, features add weight and complexity, running counter to Lotus’s vision.
It’s Easy to See How A Lotus SUV Would Increase Sales
That the 130 seems like it will come with automatically closing doors has already raised eyebrows. While the simplicity of an electric motor seems in line with their philosophy, the necessary hardware to operate a door this way will add quite a bit of weight.
Will they continue this direction in an effort to draw a larger audience? 2018 had been a great year by their measure. They moved 1630 units, which was a company record. It’s easy to see how a Lotus SUV could increase that number considerably. After all, it worked for Porsche.