British sports car maker Lotus is in the late stages of development with its all-new Type 133 electric sedan, which will rival the likes of the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and Tesla Model S Plaid in its most extreme variant which is slated to feature a tri-motor setup capable of delivering up to 905 horsepower, according to Autocar.
Sitting on the same Electric Premium Architecture (EPA) platform as the recently released Eletre SUV, the upcoming sedan will measure around 16.4 feet (5 meters) in length and will be positioned as the most luxurious model in the Norfolk-based brand’s portfolio.
Lotus hasn’t made a performance sedan since the Opel Omega-based Carlton of the early 1990s, focusing on two-door sports cars like the Elise and Exige until it was acquired by Geely in 2017 when money started pouring in and development of new models was put into high gear.
Gallery: Lotus Electric Sedan Spy Photos
With similar chassis technology as the Eletre SUV, the upcoming Type 133 will feature air suspension, rear-wheel steering, active roll control, and active aerodynamics, with the company’s commercial chief, Mike Johnstone, saying for Autocar that the new sedan will be comparable with the Taycan: “When you look at performance, we’ll be in a good place, both in terms of handling and 0-60 mph speeds.”
“In terms of charging, it will have the same platform as the Eletre so it can go from 10% to 80% in less than 20 minutes,” Johnston added. “We’ve got a number of key things we’ve taken from the Eletre you’ll see [in the Type 133], which will give us a good point of differentiation.”
The British publication says that the sedan will retain the Eletre’s 112-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which could enable a range of over 400 miles (644 kilometers) on a single charge, while the charging speeds will reach 420 kilowatts.
Base versions of the Type 133, which is yet to be granted an official model name, are rumored to feature a dual-motor powertrain with over 600 hp on tap, but as of now, no technical details have been revealed, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Lotus has in store.
For the sake of comparison, the base Porsche Taycan has 402 hp and the top-spec Taycan Turbo S offers 750 hp, while the Tesla Model S Plaid touts a peak power of 1,020 hp.
As always, we’d like to know what you think about this latest development regarding the Lotus Type 133, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.
