The Porsche Taycan will soon have a new rival from a revitalized Lotus, and we’ve spotted the Chinese-built electric sedan testing without its bulky disguise for the first time.
Codenamed Type 133, but expected to be christened ‘Envya’, the sporty four-door Lotus coupe wasn’t completely uncovered; it was still wearing a light camo wrap, but one that did little to hide the detail and contours of its slinky body.
The images show a car that bears a strong resemblance to the company’s Eletre SUV thanks to its diamond-pattern active lower grille, the double-deck headlight arrangement, camera-based door mirrors, rising waistline and recessed door handles.
But it’s not simply a squashed Eletre. The Envya asserts its independence with a hood that plunges between front fender peaks and a fastback rear end in the style of an Audi A7. Some of the light units are placeholders that will be swapped for stylish LEDs at a later date, but these pictures still give us a fairly clear idea of how the finished car will look when it hits showrooms next year.
Related: Take A Look Inside The All-Electric Lotus Type 133 Sedan
Also visible beneath the camouflage wrap are Lidar units in the front fender and in the roof above the windshield that will be ready to pop out and give the Envya Level 3 autonomous driving capability.
We know from previous spy shots that the 133’s interior, including its large tablet touchscreen and slim digital instrument pack sunk into the dashboard, will be lifted almost wholesale from the Eletre. And like the SUV it will almost certainly be offered with a choice of a rear bench seat or two individual bucket seats separated by a large center console.
There are more similarities under the skin, which isn’t surprising given that the Type 132 Eletre and Type 133 Envya share the same EV-specific platform, one that will also form the basis of another smaller SUV (to rival the Porsche Macan), and be capable of charging at up to 350 kW.
So powertrains will mirror those in the Eletre, and will probably start with 603 hp (612 PS / 450 kW) S-spec and 905 hp (918 PS /675 kW) R-spec options, though less extreme models could be added later to compete with entry level Taycans.
Definitely not in the plans is a diesel option, though this particular prototype did have to relay on diesel power to get home – it appeared to break during the test and had to be rescued by an Iveco recovery truck.
