Lotus and Centrica are working together to develop a new model for electric car ownership. The British manufacturer and British Gas’ parent company aim to create a platform that integrates future mobility and energy.
Details are thin on the ground, but by talking about ‘making the car an extension of the home, capable of storing electricity, minimising emissions, and generating new income by providing services to the energy market’, it can be be reasonably understood that the announcement is talking about vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging.
With systems controlled by smart devices at home and on the move, an holistic package of electric vehicle ownership, energy usage, and grid support can be rolled out.
The partnership will also work on a sustainability program that uses low carbon technologies, helping mitigate the environmental impact of vehicles – from manufacturing through to sales and day-to-day activities of Lotus employees.
Lotus Cars CEO Phil Popham said: “Our journey to net-zero carbon is absolutely lock-in-step with the Vision80 strategy for Lotus – taking us to eighty years of the business in 2028.
“By then we will have transformed Lotus into a truly global player in the high-performance high-technology sector with a new range of cars that remain true to our fundamental promise of always being ‘For The Drivers’. The difference is the energy and infrastructure that will power and support these products in the future – this new partnership demonstrates the progress being made and the ambition of our vision.”
Lotus currently has no electric vehicles on its books, but production of the Evija all-electric hypercar is planned to start later this year. Despite currently being a small sportscar manufacturer, Lotus is partly owned by Geely – the Chinese manufacturer that also owns Volvo – which has a majority stake in the Norfolk-based firm.
