Beverly Hills may soon be lit up by an electric Lotus Cars dealer.
Galpin Motors, based in North Hills, got a green light from the city’s Planning Commission to open an EV dealership for the British carmaker at 9777 Wilshire Boulevard, the Beverly Hills Courier reported.
The dealership will feature newly developed Lotus EVs that cost $150,000. Lotus, a sports car maker that launched in 1948, just poured $2.8 billion into producing electric cars.
The Lotus dealer would be just the latest luxury carmaker to quietly ease into 90210.
A month ago, Faraday Future – an EV startup that hasn’t debuted a car – got a nod from planning commissioners to open a 13,500-square-foot dealer at 464 North Beverly Drive. It would be its first showroom.
In August, O’Gara Coach inked a lease to open an 18,000-square-foot Rolls-Royce showroom at 9460 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Golden Triangle district, where the company hopes to set new sales records.
Galpin Motors, whose Galpin Ford dealership in the San Fernando Valley has been for decades the No. 1-selling Ford dealer in the world, has also placed bets on EV sales in Beverly Hills.
In March, the Valley-based auto powerhouse opened Galpin Polestar, a showroom for the high performance Swedish EV brand, at 9701 Wilshire Boulevard. Its plug-in convertible, with 609 horsepower, sells for $155,000.
At the same time, Lotus announced custom deliveries of EV models that include the 2000-hp Evija, which Lotus dubbed an “all-electric British hypercar,” of which 130 will be produced.
The new Galpin Lotus dealer would take up 33,700 square feet at the bottom of the 10-story, mid-century office building on Wilshire Boulevard designed 58 years ago by Sidney Eisenshtat, according to the Courier. The floor has sat vacant for two years.
Its approval by the city’s Planning Commission comes four weeks after California air regulators announced a ban on selling new gas-powered cars, starting in 2035.
“We are starting to get these EV dealerships, which are unique in that they are fully indoors,” said Timothea Tway, the city’s director of planning and community development. “They can be located in more traditional retail areas.”
— Dana Bartholomew
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