Centrica and Lotus: a new vision of connected energy
Energy multinational Centrica has jointly announced with Lotus Cars a new partnership to integrate connected homes, vehicles and customers.
Centrica, which is the parent company of British Gas, will be engaging with Lotus on an exciting multi-work-stream strategy, including a revised energy usage roadmap, developing EV infrastructure, de-carbonisation and new products to support consumers’ digital lives.
Their concept involves an EV (electric vehicle) which can function as an independent smart grid, capable of storing electricity, lowering carbon emissions and allowing households to profit by selling excess energy.
A digital energy revolution
Centrica and Lotus’ plan could be a prototypical system for further digital integration with energy and everyday life. In order to ensure that their collaboration is a holistic solution, the new plan will factor in low-carbon tech to improve the sustainability of Lotus’ end-to-end processes, from manufacturing to sales.
As a company, Lotus has been striving towards net-zero CO2 in its operations since 2018. Phil Popham, CEO, commented that its collaboration with Centrica realised the essential role that energy and infrastructure will play in achieving that goal.
"Our journey to net-zero carbon is absolutely lock-in-step with the Vision 80 strategy for Lotus – taking us to eighty years of the business in 2028.
“The difference is the energy and infrastructure that will power and support these products in the future – this new partnership demonstrates the progress being made and the ambition of our vision."
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Chris O’Shea, Group CEO of Centrica, stated that the company’s expertise and market experience made it an optimal partner for supporting any company with similar ambitions to Lotus.
“We are committed to helping our customers and communities achieve net-zero and to do so, we must enable the change to electric vehicles.
“We have the technology, the skills and the scale to do this and our partnership with Lotus is another step in bringing our commitment to life."
Changing consumer perceptions of EVs
One of the exciting trends bisecting energy and sustainability is the changing relationship between consumers and EVs. Whilst petrol/diesel cars are regarded as self-contained items, EVs have the potential to transcend their usage as mere transportation.
“We see a future where the customer, car and home are connected, enabling new services beyond charging the car, and new products and experiences replacing the unremarkable standard relationship with energy and the ownership of a car today,” added Carl Bayliss, VP of Centria Innovations.
The possibilities could result in numerous value-added opportunities for consumers, which may also accelerate the global transition from internal combustion engines to EVs.
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