Lotus and Renault join forces to create an EV Sportscar

They are some big names in the automotive world, big names in motorsport and now they are working together one what could be a very exciting electric car – Lotus, Renault and Alpine.

Renault and Lotus have signed a “memorandum of understanding” – which is a fancy way of formally agreeing to work on something together – to study a “number of areas of co-operation, including the joint development of an EV sportscar”.

Now that’s exciting. Lotus make some of the most exciting cars to drive on the road or race track, and Renault through their own brand or sub-brand Alpine have a similar approach including the Alpine Formula One Tteam.

So, the Alpine and Lotus teams will work together to determine the feasibility of sharing engineering, design and development roles toward building an EV sportscar.

It could become more than that, or it might come to nothing, but – it’s an exciting potential partnership.

Laurent Rossi, CEO Alpine, said: “The signing of this MoU with Lotus shows the lean and smart approach we’re implementing as part of the new Alpine brand strategy.

Both brands have an amazing legacy and we are most excited to start this work together, from engineering tailored solutions to developing a next-generation EV sports car.

This collaboration along with our transformation mark the beginning of a
new era in which we’ll be taking the Alpine name and line-up to the future. We’re putting F1 at the heart of our business, leveraging our in-house expertise and best-inclass partners such as Lotus to inject our cars with leading-edge performance, technology and motorisation”.

Over at Lotus Cars, CEO Phil Popham says “Today’s announcement is the first step in what is set to be a hugely rewarding collaboration between our iconic brands. We are proud to have been selected by Groupe Renault in this collaboration – for our technical expertise and abilities, and our long track record of successful collaborations.

Our companies have much in common – from a pioneering pedigree in light-weighting, to championship-winning sportscars which perform as impressively on the road as they do in the motorsports arena. It is a natural fit in many ways and the co-development of an EV sportscar is hugely exciting for our companies, our fans and customers around the world.

The joint-services element of our agreement will additionally make our engineering expertise available to those wishing to engage our innovations.”