Lotus has confirmed the name of its upcoming sports car as the Emira, releasing along the way the first bits of information and the obligatory teaser images; the new model will debut on July 6 and will be the brand’s last model to be powered by a combustion engine. The new Lotus Emira, previously known as the Type 131, is going to bridge the gap between the outgoing Elise, Exige, and Evora and the all-electric Evija hypercar before the British carmaker transforms into a pure EV brand.
Contrary to previous reports, the new
Lotus Emira will not use a hybrid powertrain but will be offered with a range
of internal combustion engines. This will include a new turbocharged 2.0-liter
four-cylinder unit paired to a dual-clutch automatic transmission, as well as a
further developed version of the supercharged 3.5-liter Toyota V6, which will
retain the option for a manual gearbox in addition to an automatic one.
Lotus didn’t reveal any technical details
just yet, but according to Car & Driver, the new 2.0-liter engine will be
sourced from a new partner that’s not Geely or Volvo, making more than 300 HP.
This could mean that the more powerful V6 engine will offer even more power
than the current 416 HP it makes in the Evora. Just by looking at the teaser
images, you can clearly see that the inspiration behind the new Emira’s styling
comes from the Evija. Under the skin, the new mid-engine sports car will use a
heavily reworked version of Evora’s bonded aluminum architecture, which will be
simply called ‘Sports Car platform’. The new Lotus Emira will be fully revealed
on July 6 and will make its dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on
July 8.
In addition, Lotus revealed more details
about its future strategy; it’s no secret that the Geely-owned carmaker is
looking to expand its model range beyond sports cars, and to do so they are
going to use four platforms. The new Lotus Emira will be based on the
aforementioned Sports Car platform, while the all-electric Evija is built upon
the self-explanatory ‘Hypercar’ platform. The third one is called ‘Evolution’
and will be used for “an all-new range of lifestyle vehicles”, including the
long-rumored Lotus SUV. “Building on the
launch of the Emira, these cars will catapult Lotus into a new era of higher
retail volumes and significant revenues,” the company said in its release.
The fourth platform will be an electric
sports car architecture, the product from the partnership between Lotus and
Alpine, known internally as ‘E-Sports’. The electric sports car platform will
be used for future Lotus and Alpine models.
