Geely's Lotus to develop battery with Britishvolt

British car maker Lotus Cars said it is joining hands with battery producer Britshvolt to develop a battery pack for its forthcoming electric sports cars.

The sports car maker, partly owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely, said key focuses of the partnership will be fast-charging, optimizing energy density and weight reduction.

Britishvolt is a major British investor in battery cell technologies.

The carmaker said the collaboration with Britishvolt is another significant development in its ongoing transformation from a British sports car company to a global and all-electric performance car brand.

The deal follows an investment of 100 million pounds by Lotus in its facilities in the UK, which include manufacturing centers for the Evija, a pure electric hypercar, and its last gasoline model, Emira.

Evija's deliveries will start later this year, and all Lotus' future models will be pure electric, said the carmaker.

Matt Windle, managing director of Lotus Cars, said "Last year we committed Lotus to a pure electric future...In the coming months we will be unveiling the Type 132, an all-new and all-electric Lotus SUV and we've confirmed three more EVs are on the way."

After its first ever SUV, Lotus will it will launch a four-door coupe in 2023 and another SUV in 2025, which will be followed by an all-new electric sports car in 2026, according to a product plan it released last year.

Besides the manufacturing facilities in Britain, Lotus is building a plant in Central China's Wuhan city, which has a designed production capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year.

Lotus said the UK team will be responsible for the development and production of sports cars and the electric hypercar Evija, as well as co-coordinating global sales for the Lotus brand.

The China plant, which is expected to start production later this year, will produce a new generation of products which are largely designed for a larger customer group.

Globally, Lotus sold 1,710 new cars in 2021, up 24 percent year-on-year. Lotus said it was the carmaker's best performance in a decade.