Lotus

Lotus has finally stopped the tease and revealed its all-electric rival to the Aston Martin Valkyrie, the Evija, and three of them could be headed to our shores. Lotus Australia has confirmed it's received three local expressions of interest for the Evija, with just 130 examples to be built worldwide. It'll cost £250,000 ($440,000) to secure a build slot, and the total price is £1.7 million – equivalent to around $3 million.

Lotus has confirmed it will unveil its electric hypercar at an event in London on July 16, UK time. Codenamed Type 130, the hypercar will likely have a name beginning with E to fit in with the marque's tradition. Whatever it's christened, the Type 130 will be Lotus' first all-new model in over a decade.

It's not hard to make jokes about Lotus. Older readers might remember the acronym that the British sportscar brand's shonky build quality earned it in the 1970s and 80s: Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious. It was a phrase later turned to summarise the company's frequent crises and revolving door management changes. In recent years trouble peaked with the unravelling of Dany Bahar's grandiose plans, announced at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, to launch no fewer than seven all-new models.

Lotus looks likely to start manufacturing vehicles at a huge new factory in China, according to overseas reports. Reporting from newswire Reuters has revealed a US$1.3 billion factory is being readied in Wuhan Province, as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group gets its hands dirty in search of greater volumes and, subsequently, profits from the storied brand. The factory plans were uncovered in previously-unreleased government documents, backed by a number of job postings in the relevant area.