1986 Lotus Esprit S3 Coupe 2-door 2.2l on 2040-cars

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Lotus Type 130 electric hypercar confirmed for July 16 reveal

Lotus just formally announced that its electric hypercar will be revealed on July 16. It's called the Type 130, and it's confirmed for production at Lotus headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk. The name is derived directly from the production quantity, as Lotus is capping the car at just 130 units. This project is coming together at a rapid pace, as Lotus also says the first customer deliveries will happen in 2020. Meeting time goals for the production of EVs has proven troublesome for some manufacturers, so we'll see if Lotus is able to deliver in the next year and a half. The British sports car company has Chinese backing in the form of Geely now, so the funds to make this car happen appear to be there. Lotus says that it's had several hundred people express interest in buying the Type 130 since its confirmation at the Shanghai Auto Show. Of course, with only 130 slots available to buy the vehicle, we'll see how it all shakes out once Lotus announces what we expect will be an extravagant price tag. Hypercars, and especially electric hypercars, are never cheap. Lotus released a teaser photo that tells us next to nothing, but it is a photo of the car. The teaser video below is a bit more interesting with the "Hand Built in Britain By Lotus" emblem and the electric charge port hidden off to the left. It has an automatically closing door there, which doesn't exactly feel like Lotus' style. If something can be done mechanically to save weight, that's typically the path taken. We won't prejudge the car too harshly, though, as this represents an entirely new take on Lotus vehicles. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lotus drops Renault for Mercedes F1 engines

With only three manufacturers supplying engines in Formula One this season, the teams have been fairly evenly split: Ferrari, Sauber and Marussia use Ferrari engines; Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Force India run on Mercedes power; Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Lotus and Caterham employ Renault power units. But one important team is reportedly preparing to ditch Renault and switch to Mercedes for next year.
That team is Lotus, an outfit which has fallen off its pace the past few seasons but which has still been a vital partner for Renault. That's because until a few seasons ago, the team based in Enstone, UK, was owned by Renault and bore the company's name. The operation was founded in 1981 as Toleman, was rechristened Benetton in 1986, bought by Renault 2000, taking the company's name in 2002, sold to its current owners Genii Capital 2009 and adopting the black and gold Lotus livery in 2011. As Benetton, it ran Ford engines until switching to Renault in 1995, sticking with the French outfit ever since, but that decades-long partnership - which meandered through Renault ownership and back out again - is now apparently drawing to a close.
The departure of Lotus as a customer team ought to allow Renault to focus instead on its increasing ties with Red Bull, which has taken the Enstone team's place as Renault's principal team. It could prove a smart move for the Lotus team as well, as the Mercedes engines have been outperforming the Renault units this season by an order of magnitude: not only is Mercedes far outpacing Red Bull at the top of the standings, but each of Mercedes' customer teams is performing better than Renault's clients.

Lotus readying Evora crossover?!

If it seems to you like every sports car manufacturer is getting into the crossover game, that's because it's pretty much true. And now, we potentially have one more to add to the list, as Britain's Car magazine reports that Lotus – yes, Lotus – is proceeding with plans to build a crossover. Rather than build a new crossover from the ground up, however, Lotus is said to be developing a high-riding version of the existing Evora. It's tipped to keep its rear-drive configuration (rather than going with a proper all-wheel-drive system), with a raised ride height and more rugged styling. In that respect, it may emerge more like a Local Motors Rally Fighter than a Porsche Cayenne challenger. That may yet emerge as not such a bad thing as it may seem on the surface, but for those purists who'd balk at the notion of an off-road Lotus, the British automaker has other plans in store as well. The crossover would arrive on the heels of a refreshed version of the existing Evora, a potential convertible version of the same, and a hardcore, track-focused successor to the 2-Eleven is also said to be in the works. In the end, Lotus would only be the latest in a long string of established sports car makers to get into the crossover game. Porsche of course led the way with the Cayenne and followed up with the Macan, Maserati is set to follow suit, and last we heard, Lamborghini was still awaiting approval to build the Urus concept.