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Could Lotus be the next Tesla? Thanks to a deal with China, it’s not as crazy as it sounds

Having had a hand in America’s first generation of electric cars, Hamish McRae believes Lotus now has a shot at being part of China’s next generation of vehicles

Tuesday 31 August 2021 21:30 BST
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<p>Lotus has just signed an agreement with NIO Inc, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer </p>

Lotus has just signed an agreement with NIO Inc, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer

Could Lotus, the iconic makers of British sports cars, become the next Tesla – thanks to China?

To many that idea will sound outlandish, and it may be. But Lotus Technology, part of the group, has just signed an agreement with NIO Inc, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, that values it at $2.3bn (£1.6bn). It also announced today (31 August) that it will set up its global headquarters in Wuhan. Lotus is itself controlled by Geely, the large conventional Chinese car marker, which also owns Volvo and the company that makes London’s electric cabs. NIO has been a pioneer in developing electric cars, and while in terms of output it is still small, it has been dubbed China’s answer to Tesla.

So what is happening here is that two Chinese companies are combining to develop the next generation of electric cars, with Lotus’s genius at design and development the secret sauce they hope will make the project fly. You could almost say that the Chinese enterprises feel they need British technology to mount an effective challenge to Tesla. So there is a story about Lotus here, and a story about Britain’s relationship as an economic partner to China.

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