Lotus Delays Electric Sports Car, Hybrid Emira Could Happen

At the beginning of the year, Lotus said it would replace the Emira with a purely electric sports car before the decade’s end. However, the zero-emission “Type 135” is being delayed now that the British marque has realized the transition to EVs will take longer than initially estimated. The Geely-owned brand has already pushed back its objective to go completely electric by 2028. Where does that leave Emira? Its life cycle could be extended.

Asked by Autocar whether a hybrid Emira could happen, the firm’s European CEO Dan Balmer didn’t rule it out: “In today’s world? ‘Never say never’ is the current rule because we have to be open-minded and understand what the marketplace wants and also what technology is available to us at the time. So the potential for hybrid powertrains is there.”

It’s too soon to identify what sort of a hybrid the Emira would be. However, Lotus did say earlier this month that it plans to launch plug-in hybrids. The engineers are also working on range-extenders where the gasoline engine serves as a generator to juice the battery. In specific scenarios, such as driving at higher speeds on the highway, the car would run strictly on the combustion engine. This technology has been dubbed “Hyper Hybrid.”

Let’s not forget that the Emira borrows its two engines from other automakers. The base model uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline unit from AMG. Mercedes’ Affalterbach-based division offers this “M139” four-cylinder mill in mild-hybrid flavor in its “35” compact cars and as a plug-in hybrid in the heavily criticized C63, plus the GLC63. Codenamed “2GR-FE,” the beefier supercharged 3.5-liter V-6 is sourced from Toyota, and it, too, has been electrified already.

If Lotus decides to hybridize the Emira, it means that the car will certainly put on weight. Seeing the glass half full, at least it’ll remain on sale longer. While an electrified setup is exactly the opposite of Colin Chapman’s “simplify, then add lightness” ethos, it represents a necessary evil. Emissions regulations are getting stricter worldwide, so for the sports car to survive, it needs a hybrid setup to comply.

In the eyes of a Lotus customer, a hybrid Emira will probably be more appealing than the electric successor anyway. At least there’s a combustion engine behind the seats, right? Logic tells us the hybrid would still be significantly lighter than a similarly sized electric sports car. The EV was supposed to be co-developed with Renault’s Alpine performance division, per an announcement made in early 2021. However, the two companies parted ways last year, deciding to go solo instead.

Aside from delaying the two-door EV, Lotus is also pushing back its Porsche Macan rival. Positioned below the Eletre, the “Type 134” crossover was scheduled to come out in 2025, but that’s not happening anymore. Why? “The market has told us what it wants and when,” according to Balmer. In other words, there are concerns demand for the smaller electric SUV would not be enough.