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Lotus launches Type 136 track-inspired performance electrified road bike; lightest e-bike motor from HPS

Lotus unveiled Type 136, a new performance bike model featuring the lightest e-bike motor from HPS to deliver dual-use functionality that will allow riders to go further, faster and higher.

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The new bike harnesses design and engineering excellence from more than 30 years of road and track cycling success, while incorporating technology from the present day. The aero design has been inspired by Lotus’ gold medal-winning success in Olympic velodromes around the world, from the iconic Type 108 bike at the 1992 Barcelona Games to the most recent competition at Tokyo 2020. There the Hope/Lotus track bike helped the Great Britain track cycling team top the event medal table.

Handmade in Italy, the lightweight carbon fiber frame and components give Type 136 a weight of just 9.8 kilograms. It features V-shaped handlebars, wing-shaped forks, and vaulted chain stays, helping it carve through the air with speed and efficiency.

The innovation continues with the battery, disguised as a water bottle and detached from the frame at the push of a button.

The bike’s Watt Assist Pro Motor system is derived from the Mars Lander Project, where limited weight and zero maintenance were critical factors to the mission’s success. It is the lightest e-bike motor system on the market from HPS and weighs just 1.2kg in total. An elegant and compact bottom bracket shell that seamlessly integrates into the bike’s frame, the motor itself weighs just 300 grams.

In tribute to Lotus’ tradition of Type numbers for its new models, Type 136 is available as an exclusive limited first edition launch production run of just 136 bikes. These will be individually numbered and available in an iconic motorsport livery. The standard model will go on sale in Spring 2024.

Founded in 1948 and 75 years old this year, Lotus is best known as a global luxury performance brand, world-renowned for the design, engineering and manufacture of thrilling two-seater sports cars such as Esprit, Elise and Elite. Its latest range of all-electric models includes Emeya hyper-GT and Eletre hyper-SUV. The brand’s halo product is Evija, the world’s most powerful series production road car.

Lotus is unique in the automotive industry for its success in the world of track cycling. Type 108 rewrote the rule book on bike design and is recognized as one of the most iconic machines of all time, inspiring a generation of professional cyclists such as Sir Chris Hoy.

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