Lotus teases new Emira, its last ICE sportscar

THREE months after revealing it was scrapping its entire established portfolio, British sportscar specialist Lotus has revealed the name and the first teaser images of its new-generation mid-engine sportscar.

Officially dubbed the Emira, the new car will make its debut on July 6 in the lead-up to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and will also happen to be the last fully internal-combustion engine vehicle the brand produces with all subsequent models to be electric.

Said to be following a similar design language to the Evija hypercar, only a few darkened teaser images of the Emira have been released so far with the images depicting a far more rounded and softer-edged design than the outgoing Elise or Exige with a wide set of hips putting us in mind of a modernised Evora.

Very few details of the Emira’s mechanicals have been revealed either with Lotus keeping most of its cards close to its chest, only revealing that “a choice of internal combustion engines” from an “exciting new powertrain partnership” would be offered.

If the outgoing range is anything to go by, we would expect the line-up to be made up of turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines – depending on the new supplier – with the switch from supercharging to turbocharging being in keeping with the ever-tightening emissions regulations.

“The additional powertrain option will be new to Lotus, highly efficient, use cutting-edge technology and be tuned to help deliver that distinctive Lotus experience,” the brand said in a statement.

Building on this notion, Lotus managing director Matt Windle said the Emira would be “the most accomplished Lotus for generations”.

“Beautifully proportioned, shrink-wrapped, but with comfort, technology and ergonomics built in,” he said.

“With a design inspired by the Evija all-electric hypercar, it’s a game-changing Lotus sportscar.”

The launch of the Emira will in some ways be the biggest step yet in Lotus’ transformation into a dedicated EV brand as it will quite literally mark the end of the internal-combustion era for the fabled sportscar-maker.

Lotus’ transformation is being rolled out under the Vision80 strategy which to summarise, entails the brand becoming an all-electric car-maker by its 80th birthday in 2028, pointing to a seven-year production lifecycle for the new Emira (discounting special editions).

Going forwards, four new architectures will underpin the brand’s cars, those being the ‘Elemental’ (Emira), ‘Extreme’ (Evija), ‘Evolution’ (lifestyle vehicles) and ‘E-Sports’ (Alpine partnership) platforms.

Mr Windle said that four years into the Vision80 strategy, everything was on track with the “spirit” of the brand set to live on well into the future as the beginning of a new era approaches.

“I have challenged our teams to target the same weight as our latest combustion engine sportscars,” he said in regard to the new E-Sports-based vehicle(s).

Lotus Australia has sold 15 cars so far this year ending March, 50 per cent more than it managed over the first three months of 2020 (10).