Lotus earned a new lease on life when China's Geely acquired the brand in 2017. With steady financing, Lotus is in the process of transforming into an electric-vehicle brand offering sports cars, hypercars, and eventually a crossover.

On Tuesday, the company announced plans for three EV platforms, one of which will underpin the crossover.

The crossover platform is known as the Evolution platform, and Lotus describes its development as a global effort involving its own team in the United Kingdom as well as teams from other Geely divisions in China, Germany and Sweden.

Lotus also said the Evolution platform will be used for vehicles with higher volumes compared to what we've traditionally seen from the brand.

Lotus hasn't specifically confirmed a crossover, stating only that the Evolution platform will be used for premium lifestyle vehicles. However, Lotus has made several hints in recent years that a crossover is coming. A sedan has also been rumored.

Production of the crossover is expected to take place at a plant in Wuhan, China. Lotus will reserve U.K. production for its future sports car line. That's where the other two EV platforms come in.

Lotus has an electric hypercar platform known as the Extreme platform, which underpins the Evija due to start production later this year. Another platform, known as E-Sports, is being developed for an electric sports car. The E-Sports platform will also be used by French brand Alpine for its own electric sports car, and Lotus is open to licensing the platform to other companies.

In addition to these three EV platforms, Lotus also has an updated version of its current bonded and riveted aluminum platform found in the Elise, Exige and Evora. The updated version, known as the Elemental platform, will underpin the upcoming Emira sports car. It will eventually be phased out after the Emira as Lotus transitions to a full-electric lineup.