Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng spoke to reporters at the Guangzhou Motor Show in China, saying that he does not see the benefit of going all-electric and that consumers looking to buy a car in the Lotus price range were less interested in electric cars.
“Luxury car engines are already very powerful, and the driving experience is quite similar, with eight-cylinder and 12-cylinder engines performing well,” Feng told the Wall Street Journal.
Hence, the focus will be on hybrids. According to reports, the brand wants to produce ‘Super Hybrid’ technology with ultra-fast plug-in charging. The electric motor will paired with a turbocharged combustion engine to extend the overall range to 680 miles (1094 kilometres). “At Lotus, we have always chosen the best power technology available, whether it’s pure gasoline, pure electric, hybrid or range-extended [EV],” Feng told the WSJ.
The goal is to develop cars with ICEs that charge the battery much faster than in other EREVs. The cars will adopt a 900-volt architecture to “flash-charge” the battery, Feng said. It would make charging faster than swapping out the battery.
Recently, there has been an influx of plug-in hybrids and EREVs in China, and Lotus aims to have its footprint in the region after previously rejecting versions of PHEV drivetrains due to their compromises in terms of driveability compared with pure-electric systems. Moreover, Lotus manufactures in China. By adding a combustion engine to its electric cars, it could circumvent special tariffs placed on China-made EVs in the EU.
