1988 Lotus Esprit on 2040-cars

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Tesla Model S Easter egg turns car into submarine

When thinking about Elon Musk, the first thing that comes to mind may not be his sense of humor. However, the Tesla boss is embedding a pretty funny Easter egg in the company's cars that references a part of his own collection. Musk famously purchased the Lotus Esprit submarine from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me for about $967,000 in 2013. At one point, he even intended to install a Tesla powertrain and make it fully transformable. From anyone else that plan would sound like pure fantasy, but Musk has the money and the means to make it happen, if he wants. Now, every Tesla Model S driver gets to share in just a little of that very cool ownership experience. A person on YouTube filmed how to access the Easter egg, and it's extremely easy. Just hold down the T on the infotainment screen for a few seconds, enter the appropriate code 007 and check the suspension settings page. Instead of seeing a Model S, Bond's submersible Esprit now appears. As another cool touch, users can set the vehicle's depth in leagues, and the options max out at 20,000. This is almost certainly a subtle reference to the classic story 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Maybe someday Musk can get the Lotus' conversion complete, and we can see it working for real. Until then, this a neat way to show the unique car off. Related Video:

Lotus to receive $16M government grant

Troubled British automaker Lotus is getting a second infusion of cash following a 100-million-pound ($161.5-million) investment by its parent company DRB-Hicom that was made in August. The substantially smaller investment, a mere 10 million pounds ($16.2 million), comes from the British government's Regional Growth Fund.
The fund, which is part of a 3-billion-pound ($4.8-billion) fund to spur economic growth in the UK, will allow Lotus to invest even further in research and development as it seeks to reinvent its lineup of lightweight sports cars. The fund will also allow the UK-based outfit to provide further training for its new crop of employees.
"This grant is part of a wider strategy for Lotus created to ensure we thrive and grow. We are responding to increased global demand for our cars and engineering consultancy services and this grant will help to position Lotus as the forefront of global automotive innovation," said Aslam Farikullah (shown above with UK Business Secretary Vince Cable MP), the chief operating officer at Lotus.

Lotus will go public via SPAC with $5.4 billion valuation

Lotus Technology, the electric-car maker owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., agreed to merge with a blank-check company in a transaction that values the combined entity at about $5.4 billion. L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp. will combine with the EV making subsidiary of the British carmaking group that Geely acquired back in 2017, the two said in a statement Tuesday. The special purpose acquisition companyÂ’s sponsor has ties to Bernard Arnault, the worldÂ’s richest man. Lotus Tech has been looking to go public since at least early last year. Management may have been encouraged by another luxury auto brandÂ’s recent listing: Porsche AG pulled off EuropeÂ’s largest initial public offering in a decade when it debuted in Frankfurt in September. A week later, Porsche overtook Volkswagen AG as EuropeÂ’s most valuable automaker. Rather than go the IPO route, Lotus Tech will merge with a SPAC whose sponsor combined with the private equity operations of ArnaultÂ’s luxury-goods powerhouse LVMH in 2016. LVMH is a passive minority investor in L Catterton, according to a spokeswoman. Arnault overtook Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk as the worldÂ’s richest man last month — the first time a European claimed the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. While Group Lotus is tiny compared to Tesla, Geely has been steering it away from combustion engines and has several all-electric models planned for the coming years. Lotus Tech sees itself as a competitor to the likes of Ferrari and Aston Martin, and will get a jump on the first electric models from those brands. Lotus unveiled its all-electric Eletre sport utility vehicle last year and plans to launch a rival to PorscheÂ’s popular Taycan EV in 2023. Geely and other owners are expected to retain an 89.7% shareholding in Lotus Tech after the SPAC merger. GeelyÂ’s billionaire owner Li Shufu also controls Swedish carmaker Volvo Car AB and owns stakes in GermanyÂ’s Mercedes-Benz Group AG and the UKÂ’s Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc. Deutsche Bank AG advised Lotus Tech on the deal, while Credit Suisse Group AG acted as capital markets adviser to the SPAC. Related video: Featured Gallery Lotus Eletre View 25 Photos Earnings/Financials Green Lotus Electric Luxury Performance