Turning Lotus into a premium EV brand is “a hell of a responsibility”, says Ben Payne, the firm's Managing Director / Head of Studio. Here's how it's being done...
before joining Geely for the foundation of the business he now leads. A straight talker, he ends a quick run-through of his career with the comment that the Lotus stuff he’s been doing “is better than all that”.
“It’s vital for the success of the brand that we’re as good at [meeting] the expectations of a 22-year-old Chinese millionaire as of a person who has owned 10 Lotus products before this. It’s a hell of a responsibility.” “We’re being encouraged to sell it to clients outside the group in future,” he says. “We should have more news on that next year.” Our tour of the bunker-like facility proceeds. We see prototype bucks whose job is to investigate door shuts, door space and cabin architecture or embody the car’s ‘control’ dimensions to a fraction of a millimetre.