Lotus is currently experiencing one helluva revival. Flush with cash after being bought by Geely, Lotus has been investing heavily in new products. The first of which to go on sale was the Emira, a mid-engine sports car that brings back everything we all knew and loved about Lotus. However, it’s also bringing a few electric cars to the market, the Evija (electric supercar), the Eletra (electric SUV), and the currently codenamed Type 133 (name subject to change). The latter of which will be an electric super sedan and it could be primed to take down the BMW i5 M60.
At the moment, it’s unclear how much power or performance the Lotus Type 133 will have. All that’s currently known about it is that it will be a similarly sized sedan as the i5, it will have all-wheel drive, and it will have some sharp looks. Spy photos have been popping up over the past couple of weeks, showing off the electrified Lotus lapping the Nurburgring and it looks quite promising.
However, while we don’t have any real info, we can extrapolate a bit and make an educated guess. Of course, Lotus isn’t going to make a specific powertrain for the Type 133, as that wouldn’t be very economical and that’s not what electric car manufacturers do. We can assume that it will have the entry-level Eletre powertrain, which is a dual-motor, all-wheel drive setup making 600-ish horsepower. That would make a lot of sense for the Type 133, given its size. There could also be an ultra-high performance version with 900 horsepower, like its SUV sibling, but 600 horses are probably enough in a car of the Type 133’s size.
Price is impossible to know just yet but, again, we can make an educated guess. The mid-engine Emira is the only new Lotus product to go by and it starts at just over $77,000 in the U.S. market. While I don’t expect a dual-motor electric car to cost that little, Lotus priced the Emira lower than its similarly powered competition, so it would stand to reason that Lotus will price the Type 133 reasonably as well. And since the BMW i5 M60 starts just about $85,000, after destination. So it’s certainly possible, and perhaps even likely, that the Lotus Type 133 is priced within striking distance of that.
If so, BMW will have a very serious competitor on its hands. Sure, most customers in that price range will choose the sure thing—BMW is the more reliable brand with a better dealer network. However, the Lotus will have more exotic (and likely better) looks than the Bimmer, will be rarer and more special, and will almost certainly handle better, as the Emira proved Lotus hasn’t forgotten a damn thing about making brilliant handling sports cars. If I’m a customer in that price range, looking for an electric sedan, the BMW i5 M60 is tempting because it has a comfortable, familiar approach, but the Lotus calls to me. I’m very excited to see how this segment plays out in the future with Lotus involved.
