Lightweight icon Lotus Cars is building its first SUV, which is also its first battery-electric vehicle (BEV).
The Lotus Type 132, the first SUV to come from the team at Hethel in Norfolk, England, is ready to debut next month. And not only will it be the first SUV in Lotus’ lineup, but it will also be the company’s second electric vehicle, coming hot on the heels of the Lotus Evjia.
Here’s what we know about this new sports SUV and what we expect to find out from Lotus soon.
Electric SUV Part of Major Expansion
The Lotus brand became part of Chinese automaker Geely in 2017. This gave what was once a British cottage carmaker the chance to turn into something bigger than it had ever been.
Around this time last year, Lotus announced that living up to that potential meant switching from solely producing sports cars like the Lotus Evora to manufacturing electric vehicles. The new goal was to sell tens of thousands of vehicles per year instead of just over 1,000.
The Lotus Type 132 will be the company’s second EV. It follows the Type 130, later named the Evija, which entered production last year. That electric supercar is extremely limited in production, with just 130 of the 1,974-horsepower cars planned for construction.
In the meantime, Lotus has revealed four teaser videos for the Type 132 SUV. The brand says it will get an official name to replace the number in the next few weeks.