Lotus Reveals Its New Lightweight Platform For Electric Sports Cars

• by Matt Penny
• September 21, 2021
• 3 min read

Sports car staple Lotus has detailed its new lightweight platform that will serve as the foundation for fast cars of the future. Replacing the Elise, Exige and Evora will be difficult, but not impossible.

Future electric vehicles from Lotus will be built on this adjustable platform © Credit to Lotus

Shortly, Lotus will release the new Emira, the last vehicle from the automaker that fits the combustion engine mould.

All vehicles moving forward will be electric if you missed it — we reported on this a while back. Now we have a better idea of what to expect, given Lotus has seen fit to reveal more on its platform that will underpin future rides.

The flexible platforms you see have been developed through Project LEVA (Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture), announced last October. Project LEVA is the UK automaker’s signature research programme that delves into lightweight structures for next-generation vehicles.

Richard Moore, Lotus’s executive director of Engineering, said:

“Project LEVA and the E-Sports architecture are perfect illustrations of the innovation which continues to be at the heart of everything Lotus does.

Today’s EVs are heavy in comparison to their ICE equivalents, so the ARMD funding has helped Lotus to innovate earlier in the product cycle and develop a new vehicle architecture that targets lightweight and performance density from conception.”

This structure is significantly lighter than the Lotus Emira V6 (by 37%). Size-wise, the platform is adjustable to fit the build at hand.

Here’s a quick rundown of how it will all work from a technical level:

Funding for this particular project came from Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator programme (ARMD) in part. Advancements made will benefit Lotus and the industry at large.

“Rather than developing a single vehicle, Lotus now has the blueprint for the next generation of EVs, both from Lotus and for Lotus Engineering to commercialise,” says Moore.

Could the upcoming sports car Lotus is working on alongside Alpine use this architecture? You’d have to assume so. This speedy EV is said to be the successor to the Alpine A110.

We aren’t really sure what to expect from this one, outside of what’s already been mentioned, but the sky’s the limit given these changes to the Lotus M.O.

The EV era of Lotus is primed to shine, with a variety of models joining its future lineup. What do you think of the new platform? And what do you think of Lotus heading in an electric direction? Leave a comment below.

Matt Penny

Since a young age, Matt has been enthusiastic about technology and the role that electric power will play in the future of transport. In particular, he is passionate about electric motorcycles and electric motorsport and looks forward to seeing those two fields grow in the coming years. When not behind a screen, you can find Matt watching the rugby or lost in a good book.

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