Lotus is to launch a network of ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers across Europe next year.
The luxury sports car manufacturer has created the system, which is mainly aimed at businesses, to ‘make it easier and quicker for EV drivers to charge their vehicles’.
A new liquid-cooled all-in-one charger will offer speeds of up to 450kW, which could add up to 88.5 miles in five minutes with a car that can accept that top rate of charge – with the new Lotus Eletre being an example.
A 10 to 80 per cent charge could take as little as 20 minutes.
Although its system might be designed for companies, Lotus also says its liquid-cooled ‘power cabinet’, which can help reduce charging times, could be used at motorway service stations.
Lotus Group chief commercial officer Mike Johnstone said: ‘Over the past six years, Lotus has been investing in the technology and infrastructure to accelerate the transition to electrification.
‘We want to make it easier than ever to own an electric vehicle, and with our latest offerings Lotus is able to provide customers with the confidence to access easy, fast and efficient charging.’
The speedy chargers – which won’t be exclusive to Lotus vehicles, but could be used by other brands of EV – have already been put in at sites in China, but Lotus says it expects to roll them out across most European countries in the second quarter of 2024.