Project LEVA - Lotus electric sports car architecture

World premiere for innovative new lightweight EV structure Developed through Project LEVA research programme, rear structure is 37% lighter than on Lotus Emira V6 Will be integrated into Lotus electric sports car architecture Versatile architecture supports multiple layouts, wheelbase lengths, battery sizes and configurations Technology on display at Cenex LCV event on 22/23 September (Hethel, UK – 21 September 2021) – Just weeks after Lotus confirmed it will be launching a new family of EV performance cars, it has given a world premiere to the innovative new lightweight chassis technology that will underpin the electric sports car in the range. The new structure has been developed through Project LEVA (Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture), announced last October by Lotus. Project LEVA is a research programme that’s accelerating the development of all-new lightweight structures for next-generation battery electric vehicles. Today Lotus can reveal it’s this structure developed through Project LEVA which will be integrated into the company’s new architecture for electric sports cars. Thanks to the innovation of Lotus and the Project LEVA partners, the rear structure is 37% lighter than it is on the Lotus Emira V6. It means Lotus now has the ‘blueprint’ for the next generation of electric sports cars, for future Lotus products and for the Lotus Engineering consultancy to commercialise. The Project LEVA lightweight chassis technology is being shown at the Low Carbon Vehicle event staged by Cenex, the UK’s Low Carbon and Fuel Cells Centre of Excellence, at Millbrook Proving Ground, Bedfordshire, UK, on 22/23 September. A new animation from Lotus reveals how the technology will form part of the new electric sports car chassis, illustrating the versatile nature of this all-new Lotus-developed vehicle architecture. It is fully adaptable to provide a platform for a range of EVs with variable layouts, wheelbase lengths, battery sizes and configurations. As the animation shows, all three layouts feature a common lightweight die-cast rear sub-frame with multiple interchangeable components. This is the Project LEVA innovation, and it means a single vehicle architecture can accommodate two different types of battery configurations: VEHICLE LAYOUT WHEELBASE BATTERY SIZE / CONFIGURATION MAXIMUM BATTERY POWER EDU LAYOUT / MAX POWER Two-seater Minimum of 2,470mm 8-module / chest 66.4kWh Single / 350kW Two-seater More than 2,650mm 12-module / chest 99.6kWh Twin / 650kW 2+2 More than 2,650mm 8-module / slab 66.4kWh Single / 350 kW or Twin / 650kW