Alpine and Lotus announce ‘technical collaboration’ for EV development
Pair will also be working on the development of an electric sportscar.
Alpine and Lotus have signed a memorandum of understanding which will see the pair collaborate in a number of areas including the development of an electric sports car.
Renault-owned Alpine and Geely-owned Lotus will use the ‘expertise and facilities of respective entities in both France and the UK’ to conduct a feasibility study into the joint design, creation and engineering of an electric vehicle.
Given the pair’s well-known fondness for lightweight vehicles, it’s likely that this car will be small and compact, much like Alpine’s A110 and Lotus’ famous Elise.
Laurent Rossi, CEO of 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.
In addition, the firm could look to collaborate to ‘leverage Alpine’s motorsport platform covering Formula One to Formula E’.
Rossi added: “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-in-class partners such as Lotus to inject our cars with leading-edge performance, technology and motorisation”.
Phil Popham, CEO of Lotus Cars, said: “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 be working with Groupe Renault in this collaboration – sharing Lotus’ technical expertise and abilities, and leveraging our long track record of successful collaborations.”
