Lotus is leading a consortium that won a U.K. government tender to develop a modular platform for EVs.
The consortium includes Sarginsons Industries, an automotive supplier and consultancy adept at developing lightweight components, as well as researchers from Brunel University London.
Utilizing support and funding from the U.K. Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the consortium will develop a platform called the Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture, or LEVA for short. It is expected to feature innovations in both the areas of powertrains and chassis.
More details on the platform will be announced at a later date.
Lotus is putting the final touches on its Evija, an electric hypercar riding on a bespoke platform developed with Williams Advanced Engineering. The company is also working on its last cars powered solely by internal-combustion engines, meaning soon every Lotus will either be a hybrid or battery-electric model. The LEVA platform will be instrumental in this strategy, hinted Matt Windle, Lotus' executive director of engineering.
“As a collaboration between Lotus, Sarginsons Industries and Brunel University London there is a wealth of talent involved, and we are excited to have already begun the project work,” he said in a statement. “Following the launch of the Lotus Evija, our all-electric hypercar, this project is a key building block in our vision to deliver a full range of electrified Lotus performance cars.”
Before we see more electric cars from Lotus, the company will launch a new supercar possibly powered by a mild-hybrid setup. Lotus is also thought to be working on a sports car destined to be its last powered exclusively by an internal-combustion engine. Stay tuned.
