It became known when Lotus will present the first crossover in its history

The sport utility vehicle known as the Type 132 will premiere in a few months.

The British company Lotus Cars several years ago became the property of the large Chinese holding company Geely, which also owns the Volvo brand. After the acquisition, Lotus also changed responsibilities: for example, the brand was forced to expand its lineup with a crossover. At the same time, we recall that Lotus has been thinking about releasing its car in the SUV segment for more than a decade, because the APX show car was introduced in 2006. True, it did not go further than the concept, but now some new crossover for the luxury brand is working on it at full speed.

Note that the patent images of the first Lotus SUV appeared online in the fall of 2017. By the way, it was previously reported that the production car will be called Lambda. If this name remains, it is not yet reported: now the car is officially known under the internal index Type 132. The crossover will take place next spring. It will most likely hit the market in the second half of 2022.

The company continues the teaser campaign. Previously, the company has already published several photos and short videos dedicated to the Type 132. In each of them, the car was not shown in full, only a small part of the future sports SUV was shown.

So, we have already partially examined the front of the future novelty: we are talking about a fragment of the air intake and a “piece” of a carbon splitter. Judging by the design of these elements, the model will have a design with the “participation” of geometric shapes – triangles. Instead of a traditional radiator grille, the plug is equipped with active ribs: by changing position, they help to reduce air resistance (closed) or additionally cool the electric motors (open).

In addition, judging by the teasers, the car will have active aerodynamic elements not only in front, but also in the stern – we are talking about a movable spoiler. In addition, the first Lotus crossover will be equipped with advanced driver assistants that will work based on data received from lidar and other sensors. According to the very first teaser, the model will have thin curved LED headlights and cameras instead of side mirrors.

The salon was also partially “highlighted”: Lotus showed how it “wakes up”, that is, it changes the angle of inclination of the touchscreen of the infotainment system of the future crossover. In general, as the company notes, there will be several displays in the show of new products, perhaps one more will play the role of a digital “device”.

Lotus has already stated that the brand's first crossover will be an electric car, but there is no official information about the technology yet. The model, most likely, will only have all-wheel drive versions with a twin-engine installation (one electric motor for each axle). According to preliminary information, the maximum total power of the system will be 761 hp. To accelerate from zero to “hundreds” such an SUV needed less than three seconds. The SUV is likely to have a choice of 90 or 120 kWh battery; in the second case, the maximum cruising range will be about 650 km.

Production of the first Lotus crossover is planned to be established at the Geely plant in Wuhan (China). Another SUV of the brand, known under the factory index Type 133, is likely to debut in 2023. Most likely, it will be a coupe version of the Type 132. In 2026, a “green” sports car with the Type 135 index will appear on the conveyor belt at the Hethel site (Norfolk, England); Lotus is developing it together with Alpino.