Big plans for the Lotus Emira with hybrid tech on the cards

The Emira is a strong performer for Lotus, accounting for more than 5,000 of the brand’s 12,000 sales in 2024. The firm has just announced the V6 Turbo SE with a revised manual gearbox to boost precision, suspension adjustments to improve ride and handling, and a tweaked cooling system that trims weight, plus Racing Line editions with yellow pinstripes and high gloss black wheels.

But with Lotus slowing down plans for an all-electric, mid-engined sports car, the firm is investigating how to electrify its existing two-seater. “Everything’s possible; we could squeeze [a hybrid] in,” Lotus Europe CEO Matt Windle told Auto Express.

Expect a very different approach from the ‘hyper hybrid’ system bound for the Eletre SUV and Emeya saloon, which packs a 2.0-litre turbo engine with high-power standalone electric motors on the front and rear axle.

Given the packaging constraints of the 4,412mm-long Lotus where every millimetre counts, the Emira is more likely to mirror the Ferrari 296 GTB and McLaren Artura by shoehorning an electric motor generator between the engine and transmission, boosting power and harvesting some energy for a modest battery.

There’s no word yet on which of the Mercedes-AMG-sourced turbocharged 2.0-litre or Toyota-supplied 3.5-litre V6 could get the hybrid treatment. The very different characters of the four-pot and V6 make for the key customer choice at the moment, because both SE models pack 400bhp. Why, we asked Matt Windle?

“We didn’t want to derate any of the power,” grins the sports car boss. “We could have done that but the main driver for the engines was gearbox application, [not] power.” The four-pot comes with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission for ultra-fast changes (and the fastest 0-62mph time of 4 four seconds flat), whereas the slightly slower V6 comes with a manual or six-speed torque converter.

The Emira is available in GT4 racing spec, with more power from the V6, a sequential racing ‘box and enhanced aero. Is this a template for stripped out, roadgoing Emiras following the blueprint of Porsche’s 718 Cayman GT4? “We’re pretty much at the power we can be on those engines,” counters Windle – until the hybrid comes on stream. 

An open-top version is likely to filter through in time: the chassis was developed with sufficient stiffness for a spider version, like the classic Elise. 

An open Emira would sell well in the vital US market, where Chinese imports of the Eletre SUV and Emeya saloon are non-starters due to tariff barriers. Given that sister brand Volvo has a factory in South Carolina, could Lotus use it to assemble the big EVs in the States? “At the moment, there are no plans for production over there,” says the European boss.   

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