Electric Lotus SUV to get 560kW and 580km range

Lotus is forging ahead with its plans to soon offer an SUV in its line-up but has changed its mind about what will power it when it arrives in 2022.

Originally, the high-riding Lotus was all set for a Toyota-sourced V6 before the Geely takeover scuppered those plans.

Its acquisition by the Chinese car-making giant led to speculation the Norfolk-based brand would be free to make the switch to plug-in hybrids, sourced from new stablemate Volvo.

However, Autocar is now reporting that those plans have been scrapped and the all-new SUV will get a full pure-electric powertrain.

The reason for the last-minute switch, which will put much of the SUV's development back to square one, is that the new Lotus SUV is predominantly aimed at Chinese buyers where demand for electric vehicles is growing rapidly.

Developed under the Lambda codename, the Lotus SUV, which will also be manufactured in China, is now set to lift its high-performance pure-electric powertrain from fellow Geely-owned sibling Polestar.

Once introduced, Geely is banking that the SUV will prove a breakthrough model for Lotus and help boost its global annual sales volume from today's 1500 units to a more profitable 5000 in the near future.

Helping meet that target, Lotus will also introduce a new Esprit in 2021 that will be powered by a V6 hybrid.

Set to be built at a state-of-the-art billion-dollar Geely factory in China's Wuhan, the new Lotus SUV will roll off a dedicated Lotus production line.

If demand is strong, Geely is tipped to also produce the Lotus SUV at other factories within China, but it's unlikely the Porsche Macan rival will be built at the car-maker's recently upgraded Hethel plant in the UK, as that is being reserved for the production of sports cars.

It was thought the Lotus SUV was destined to be built on either the Volvo SPA platform (XC90, S90/V90) or the small CMA architecture that underpins the Volvo XC40, but it's now been revealed the Lotus will sit on Geely's latest Sustainable Experience Platform (SEA) that has been created specifically for EVs.

The lightweight, rigid architecture is largely comprised of aluminium and should be key to ensuring the Lotus SUV will be by far the lightest in its battery-powered SUV class, although a 2000kg kerb weight is still likely.

Two model variants are tipped to be offered, one with 450kW and the other with more than 560kW. Both will feature dual motors and should have a range of more than 580km.

Helping the car-maker hone the handling and advanced torque vectoring is the recent knowhow accrued while developing the Lotus Evija hypercar.

Hoping to set a new benchmark for ride and handling, the SUV is expected to reach the market in China in 2022, with European and Australian deliveries set for early 2023.