Lotus - Q1 results and more info on TYP 134 (Macan competitor)

[Nick in Sydney]

Q1 was pretty dismal, as expected. Only 555 Emiras delivered and 1,274 total vehicles. Q2 will presumably be as bad or worse due to the suspension of US deliveries. At least they are mostly finished with de-stocking, so perhaps UK used Emira values will improve.

On the investment call it was clear that Lotus is now betting its future on 900V petrol-hybrid technology. It will be used in the TYP 134 (Macan-competitor) being unveiled later this year but also in the next sports car. So it seems that TYP 135 will be a petrol-hybrid sports car, not an EV. Hooray!

If Lotus' 900V hybrid tech is as good as they claim, then perhaps they can still turn things around.

 

[geoffbland]

Link (https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/lotus-technology-announces-hybrid-technology.5487/) back to post from Lotus CEO about the 900V hybrid tech in case anyone is interested.

 

[geoffbland]

Zeekr is a one of the Geely brands in China. Their new Zeekr 9X has this "900V electric architecture".
The 9x is an enomous (truly huge) SUV with a 2L 275hp turbo engine and 255HP + 470hp eletric engines front and rear.
Electromagnetic dampers sound interesting.
0-60 in 3.0 seconds and top speed of 240mph. The thought of something this big going that fast is terrifying.
Is the new M134 just going to be this rebadged?

Zeekr 9X Unveiled

I can't see how this power train fits in a sports car also it doesn't seem to match the idea of the Hyper-Hybrid where the engine driving the wheels is fully electric and the petrol engine just recharges the battery. I could guess that this "900V electric architecture" truly is an architecture and has interchangable parts that be be used flexibly for different requirements and cars. Nervous about having your engine built in China, worth remembering that all EU and UK Tesla engines are built there.

Edit: More about the 900V architecture https://evmagz.com/lotus-updates-vision-80-strategy-with-hyper-hybrid-ev-technology/

 

[Rainier]

AI summary Q1 2025 (may contain errors, for entertainment purposes only)

 

[Nick in Sydney]

AI summary Q1 2025 (may contain errors, for entertainment purposes only)
View attachment 66540

Wow. This AI summary is bloody impressive. Which LLM did you use?

 

[Rainier]

Wow. This AI summary is bloody impressive. Which LLM did you use?

 

[B r I a n]

Client Challenge

Carmaker Lotus plans to end production in the UK​

Closure of historic Norfolk plant would put 1,300 jobs at risk

 

[tankski]

https://archive.is/ES4wM to get through the paywall

 

[freefall_junkie]

Client Challenge

Carmaker Lotus plans to end production in the UK​

Closure of historic Norfolk plant would put 1,300 jobs at risk

Blimey, I really hope this isn't true. The FT has history with some pretty shoddy journalism so I take anything they print with a large pinch of salt, but sadly I wouldn’t be surprised if Geely decide enough is enough with Lotus under performing and pull the plug.

 

[geoffbland]

Reported by the Guardian too https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/27/lotus-uk-production-jobs-carmaker-geely-norfolk#:~:text=Lotus is planning an end,to the British car industry.

Although the FT got the information from an "insider" and neither Lotus nor Geely have stated anything and refuse to comment on rumours. Also the Guardian mentions car building to move to the US - that sounds unlikely.