Lotus challenges Porsche Taycan, Type 133 arrives

Lotus challenges Porsche Taycan, Type 133 arrives

Lotus challenges Porsche Taycan

Lotus never stops: just a few weeks ago the historic English brand, now owned by the Chinese holding company Geely, presented the Lotus Eletre SUV, an electric car characterized by important dimensions and technical specifications, with a double electric motor of almost 600 horsepower and a 100 kWh battery - today Lotus has already shifted the focus to a new electric vehicle, indicated for the moment under the provisional name of 'Type 133'.

Type 133 will be a 4-liter sedan doors, the first ever produced by the English brand, and will directly rival the Porsche Taycan, considered today - with good reason - a real benchmark for the electric car market of a certain price range.

Matt Windle, Managing Director of Lotus, stated that the new Type 133 will be offered in an initial version with the same configuration as the Eletre, with a double 592 horsepower electric motor; in this way Lotus will have plenty of room to then propose more powerful and sporty versions, but also quieter versions designed instead for family use and to maximize autonomy.

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Type 133 is expected on the market in 2023, and even if today there are still many missing technical information we are sure that Lotus is working on a high quality project, characterized by particularly advanced technologies in the suspension sector.






EV industry seen shifting to 800-volt architectures

But with most existing charging stations based on 400-volt systems, is there still an advantage for cars with 800-volt architectures?


Experts say yes, though vehicles will need an 800-volt-based charging infrastructure to take full advantage.


'Much of the existing DC fast charging infrastructure is for 400-volt vehicles,' said BorgWarner's Husted. 'To allow the faster charging that 800 volt enables, the latest generation of high-voltage, high-power DC fast chargers will be needed.'


That's not an issue for home charging, but the highest-speed public charging networks so far are limited. Reich believes it will be a particular issue for highway charging stations.


'The refill has to be as quick as fueling up at a gas station,' he said. 'This is the use case' for 800-volt charging.


Europe is seeing the rise of such networks.


Ionity is a multi-automaker partnership with a number of 800-volt, 350-kilowatt highway charging points.


'A 350-kW charger translates into five to seven minutes charging time for 100 km,' said Otmar Scharrer, senior vice president electrified powertrain technology at ZF. That's about the same time as a coffee break, he pointed out.


'This is really a game-changer,' he said. 'This is something that will drive acceptance of e-mobility.'


According to a recent report from Porsche, it takes about 80 minutes to add 250 miles of range at a typical 50-kW, 400-volt station. That time drops to 40 minutes at 100 kW. If the charging plugs are cooled — adding cost, weight and complexity — that time can fall to 30 minutes, Porsche said.


'A shift to a higher voltage is therefore inevitable in the quest to achieve charging times in the desired corridor,' the report said. It would fall to about 15 minutes with 800-volt charging, the automaker said.


Taking into account the time to pay, 'the goal of 'charging like filling up' is thus nearly within reach.'


Audi says the A6 Avant E-tron concept, based on the same PPE architecture as the Taycan, can take in enough energy in just 10 minutes at a fast-charging station to drive about 186 miles.