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Yet another automaker is walking back its plans to go fully electric. After a few of Germany’s car companies reversed course, Lotus is jumping back on the internal combustion bandwagon. The British automaker wants to invest in hybrid powertrains to make up for a lack of customer demand for pure EVs.
“At Lotus, we have always chosen the best power technology available, whether it’s pure gasoline, pure electric, hybrid or range-extended [EV],” Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng reportedly told the Wall Street Journal, via Autocar.
Qingfeng didn’t exactly detail what sort of hybrid system the company would turn to. However, it’s looking to combine small turbocharged engines with a “Super Hybrid” system that can provide a combined range of up to 680 miles. Qingfeng thinks that EVs lose their luster the further upmarket you go.
“Luxury car engines are already very powerful, and the driving experience is quite similar, with eight-cylinder and 12-cylinder engines performing well,” Qingfeng reportedly told the WSJ.
Does this mean there’s hope for the Emira? Last January, reports of the Emira’s 2027 demise began circulating and Lotus was said to be working on an electric replacement. But now that the brand isn’t going full-EV—and those stricter Euro 7 emissions rules have been pushed back to 2030—could the sports car live on longer than anticipated? If Lotus plans on using small turbocharged engines with hybrid tech, it already has the perfect partner in Mercedes-AMG.
You can currently buy the Emira with an AMG-sourced turbocharged four-cylinder. Mercedes uses a version of that same 2.0-liter turbo-four in the new hybrid AMG C63. While the C63 is a vastly different car that weighs far more than a Lotus should, the Brits could borrow some of that hybrid hardware and know-how to develop their own system, to keep the Emira alive and compliant with future regulations. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are also exempt from European tariffs placed on Chinese-built EVs. So while the Emira is built in the U.K., it could still skirt additional tariffs if hybrid powertrain development moves to China.
However, Autocar also highlighted that Qingfeng isn’t in favor of plug-in hybrids, like AMG’s system, since some of them require daily plug-ins to benefit from the full power of the electric motor. Many don’t, though, as their engines can charge them enough to maintain complete combined hybrid power. Instead, he favors extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which use internal combustion engines to recharge their batteries and extend range.
The trouble with EREVs is that when they’re totally out of juice and the vehicle relies purely on the engine’s energy recuperation, they suffer a dramatic loss in power and performance. Lotus is apparently working on a 900-volt electrical system that can recharge quickly enough from the engine that such power losses never happen.
If Lotus prefers that direction, the Emira’s fate is probably sealed, and perhaps we’ll see an EREV version of its upcoming electric sports car. If not, Lotus’ new embrace of hybrid powertrains and course reversal from a fully electric lineup could breathe new life into the mid-engined two-seater. The Emira sticking around as a purely hybrid sports car, dropping the Toyota-sourced V6, would mean the death of its manual transmission, too. But I think it’s safe to say that the world would be better with an automatic-only, hybrid Emira than no Emira at all. Who knows—maybe if we merely get a few more years of an ICE-only Emira out of this shift in direction than we otherwise might’ve, it’ll have all been worth it.
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