Lotus launches its own liquid-cooled charger technology including 450 kW DCFC
UK-based automaker Lotus is taking its 2028 electrification goals to another level, announcing a new line of EV charger options to support its growing lineup of all-electric hypercars. The new chargers are are available in China en route to other markets soon.
Lotus is a veteran boutique automaker with British roots, but is currently owned by Geely out of China. Such support from a major automotive conglomerate, especially one focused on expanding electric mobility globally, has helped Lotus develop some exciting EV technology to date.
It’s first all-electric vehicle and first-ever SUV, the Eletre, debuted in October 2022 with much hype, before Lotus gave consumers a firsthand look at what it could do at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
It was soon joined the the Emeya Hyper-GT, which made its debut in New York City this past September. With plans for a “Type 134″ D-segment SUV in 2025 and an all-electric sports car code named “Type 135” to follow in 2026, Lotus is heralding in a new era in which it intends to scale from building approximately 1,500 cars globally per year, to over 150,000 five years from now.
That’s not all either. Lotus develops its own platform architecture to support these electric hypercars, and has even dabbled in other forms of mobility, like a $25,000 electric bike for instance. Today, Lotus announced a new layer to its EV business, introducing its own charger lineup.
Lotus joins the EV charger game, beginning in China
Lotus shared details of its new charger lineup in a press release today, hoping to eventually capitalize on government subsidies around the globe by providing additional, reliable EV charging infrastructure. Per vice president of Lotus Technology and CEO at Lotus Flash Charge Alan Wang:
As more governments are increasing investment into electrification in their journey to net-zero, the demand for a reliable electric vehicle charging infrastructure has never been higher than before. Lotus has developed best-in-class fast charging solutions to deliver a quick and reliable charging experience to meet customer needs.
To begin, Lotus’ charger lineup consists of three promising products (seen above) – all liquid-cooled to, according to Lotus, “make it easier and quicker for EV drivers to charge their vehicles.” Here they are:
- All-in-One DC Charger: An ultra-fast charger delivering rates of up to 450 kW. Lotus cites that its Eletre R can add up to 88.5 miles (142 km) of range in about five minutes.
- A 10% to 80% charge can be achieved in 20 minutes.
- Power Cabinet: A modular power cabinet for spaces that require higher energy to increase efficiency and minimize charging times, such as highway rest stops.
- The new Power Cabinet offers market-leading power output capabilities of up to 480 kW.
- Charging Unit: A charging terminal, which when paired with Liquid-Cooled Power Cabinet, can charge up to four EVs at once.
- The unit has a maximum current output of 600 Amp, ensuring it csn meet the needs of EV drivers.
According to Lotus, all three charger options are available in China beginning today and are expected to make their way over to a majority of markets in Europe as well as the Middle East in Q2 2024.
The automaker saw a record-breaking first half of 2023, and expects the full year to tell a similar story as it delves deeper in electrification and scaled production. Per Lotus Group chief commercial officer Mike Johnstone:
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.
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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Environment
Podcast: Trump/GOP go after EV/solar, Tesla, Ford, GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Today’s episode is brought to you by Bosch Mobility Aftermarket—A global leader and trusted provider of automotive aftermarket parts. To celebrate Amazon Prime Day July 8th through 11th, Bosch Mobility is offering exclusive savings on must-have auto parts and tools. Learn more here.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Electrek FSGP 2025: New teams, new cars, same solar spirit
- Congress votes to send 2 million US jobs to China, increase deficit, energy costs
- Tesla (TSLA) confirms 384,000 deliveries in Q2 2025, right on expectations
- Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller
- Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries
- Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready
- Here’s why Ford’s electric vehicle sales crashed by nearly a third in Q2
- The Chevy Equinox EV is GM’s breakout star, but that’s not the only surprise
- Xpeng launches G7, a new Tesla Model Y competitor for just $27,000
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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