According to this vision, EVs will be capable of storing electricity, minimising emissions and generating new income by providing services to the energy market. The two companies aim to redefine the customer relationship with cars – one controlled by smart devices at home and on the move. The collaboration witll also facilitate a sustainability programme that utilises innovative low carbon technologies and helps mitigate the environmental impact of everything from manufacturing through to sales and the day-to-day activities of Lotus employees, helping meet Lotus’ carbon reduction aspirations.
The new partnership will help establish a new global charging and energy infrastructure for new products as part of Lotus’ journey to net-zero carbon following huge investment into the business since 2018.
“We are committed to helping our customers and communities achieve net-zero and to do so, we must enable the change to electric vehicles” said Centrica Group CEO Chris O’Shea. “We have the technology, the skills and the scale to do this and our partnership with Lotus is another step in bringing our commitment to life.”
Lotus Cars CEO Phil Popham added that the company’s journey to net-zero carbon is absolutely lock-in-step with the Vision80 strategy for Lotus – taking the company to eighty years of the business in 2028. By then it 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 its 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.
Carl Bayliss, Vice President of Centrica Innovations, said that owning an electric vehicle isn’t the same as owning an internal combustion engine car and that Centrica sees a future where the customer, car and home are connected, enabling new services beyond charging the car, and new products and experiences replacing the unremarkable standard relationship with energy and the ownership of a car today.
Production of the all-electric Lotus Evija hypercar will start at the company’s famous Hethel, Norfolk HQ later in 2020 – marking the start of Lotus’ journey to electrifying its growing range of vehicles.
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