This green will-o’-the-wisp is the Lotus Type 130 ELECTRIC Hypercar

Lotus announces the Type 130 – their first new car for more than a decade – will be an electric hypercar, teased with a misty green image.

There was a time, under Dany Bahar’s tenure at Lotus, when the announcement of a new hypercar would have to be met with scorn. But Lotus is a different animal now.

Not only is Lotus now owned by Geely – owners of Volvo – it has Phil Popham at the helm, former Director of Global Operations at Jaguar Land Rover. So we probably don’t need to take Lotus pronouncements about startling future cars with a pinch of salt anymore.

Thankfully, that means we can take the ghostly will-o’-the-wisp image Lotus has released to tease an electric hypercar as just another way of showing is what’s coming, rather than actually showing us. And we don’t need to read in to the will-o’-the-wisp image that it’s leading us to the unattainable.

According to Lotus, the will-o’-the-wisp image uses computer fluid dynamic modelling to demonstrate the Lotus Type 130’s – for that is what this Lotus is – unique lines and airflow.

Phil Popham said:

Type 130 will be the most dynamically accomplished Lotus in our history. It marks a turning point for our brand and is a showcase of what we are capable of and what is to come from Lotus.

Lotus say the Type 130 will be the first British electric hypercar, and the expectation is that it’ll deliver 1,000bhp and stunning performance and handling.

Lotus say they’ll reveal the Type 130 in London later this year. But don’t expect it to be a volume car; it’s all about making a statement for the future.