A good technique to find out what a car will look like is to search on official sites that register patents. Believe us, most of the time you won't find anything, but sometimes you'll be lucky. This is what happened when some car enthusiasts searched patent sites for new cars. While browsing on the online Australian intellectual property platform, they found the patents for the exterior of the new Lotus SUV. Although it only comes out on 29 March, we can already get a glimpse of what it will look like. If we compare those pictures with the sneak peaks we've already seen from Lotus in their official communication, we see nothing but similarities.
What do we know for sure?
It will definitely be an electric Lotus, which makes sense since Lotus has announced that the Emira will be the last car with a combustion engine. We know it will have an innovative active grille shutter. That will have a dual purpose - for cooling and for improved aerodynamics at the front. They also introduced us to the LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) front sensor. Those sensors will help with intelligent driving techniques. It will also have active aerodynamics and lots of in-car infotainment.
In terms of drivetrain, there is a rumour that there will be two four-wheel-drive variants, with power between 600 and 750 hp. Batteries of 92-120 kWh can be installed, and they will charge at 800 V. The SUV is said to have a 0-62mph time of less than 3.0sec. For the remaining part, we will have to wait until 29 March for the unveiling. We look forward to it!
Below are all the patent photos and some sneak peeks we've seen from Lotus. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
