Electric potential: The inside track on Lotus's power move

When you’re sitting on three-quarters of a century of automotive heritage, fundamental changes to your brand can be a dangerous thing. In April 2021, Lotus announced that it would cease building internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, pledging to become fully electric by the late 2020s. For an iconic British marque whose identity is closely tied to Formula One and high performance sports cars, it was a bold move. 

“I think it was 2018 when we made the call as a business,” Mark Stringer, commercial director of Lotus Engineering, told The Engineer. “We had no visibility of any premium or sporting brands really pushing electrification at all at that point.”

According to Stringer, the switch to electric was driven by a desire to go from a niche manufacturer of around 1,600 petrol-powered cars per year, to become a significant player in the luxury segment, delivering upwards of 100,000 premium EVs annually. Another major factor was undoubtedly the 2017 takeover of the company by Chinese auto giant Geely, a global leader in electrification.