Lotus Promises 1000-HP V-8 Hybrid Supercar, Extends Emira's Life

This appears to be coming from Lotus themselves, the Type 135. Also looks like the Emira will hang around longer than originally planned. And seems to confirm the Emira 420 that was accidentally leaked on the UK version of the site. Will any of this actually happen? Who knows. The Sports 420 version probably will, that's not much of a stretch.

Lotus Promises 1000-HP V-8 Hybrid Supercar, Extends Emira's Life

Other changes include a gas-electric range-extended Eletre for Europe, but EVs look unlikely for the U.S.

www.roadandtrack.com

 

[Jinba ittai]

A 1000HP hybrid will probably be $500k. Would be nice to see a car in the $150k - $200k range. Hopefully since they seem to have access to a V8 now maybe we will eventually see a 500 - 600HP Emira V8 in that range. No one besides Chevy seems to be able to produce a sports car with those numbers anywhere close to that price range. It seems either $150k for a 400HP sportscar or a half million for a 1000HP car. Even the MC20 or MCPura whatever its called now would have sold really well in the $150k - $200k range, but instead they try to sell it at $300k+, its not a $300k car. Same with the Porchse 911 Turbo S, great car, but severely overpriced. It must be impossible for the Europeans to make a sportscar in that price range or something I have no idea. It seems to be an economical dead zone for car companies.

Won’t lie - I’m disappointed. I’m sure it will be awesome but I was figuring the type 135 would have about a 20% price premium over the Emira. This is sounding more like unobtainium.

 

[Jinba ittai]

They were saying it at one point. I didn’t think I dreamt that:

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1033137_lotus-type-135-electric-sports-car-projected-to-cost-95-000

 

[Milk242]

I’m going to predict they price it under a Porsche turbo s especially if they are going with a non carbon tub. The lotus name just doesn’t command a premium and majority of people have no idea what a lotus is. Now if tariffs drive the price up then who knows what the price will be

 

[Esprit_V8]

I’m going to predict they price it under a Porsche turbo s especially if they are going with a non carbon tub. The lotus name just doesn’t command a premium and majority of people have no idea what a lotus is. Now if tariffs drive the price up then who knows what the price will be

Keep in mind that with the Emira, Lotus was originally aiming at the Porsche 911. That's the kinda management that we are dealing with.

There already is an AMG V8 powered mid-engine supercar, namely the Aston Martin Valhalla. That car is not doing too great sales wise, part of it is the price. I think the Lotus management team is going to aim at the Aston Martin Valhalla, Lamborghini Temerario, and the Ferrari Testarossa 849 in terms of price, which is not gonna go down well.

Another issue is that the Valhalla doesn't sound all that great. There is a way to make the AMG flat-plane crank V8 sound more exotic, but I don't think Lotus will pursuit that, unfortunately.

 

[geoffbland]

The original type-135 was going to be an EV Emira replacement - so around the same price.
That type-135 was abandoned and the the new type-135 is a completely different type of car.
I doubt Lotus would want to sell a car within 20% of the price of the Emira (+ or -) as they would cannibalize sales off each other.

I would expect the new type-135 to still undercut sports cars with similar performance from McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari and others considerably but even so I would assume it will be £200,000 at least.

 

[Jinba ittai]

The original type-135 was going to be an EV Emira replacement - so around the same price.
That type-135 was abandoned and the the new type-135 is a completely different type of car.
I doubt Lotus would want to sell a car within 20% of the price of the Emira (+ or -) as they would cannibalize sales off each other.

I would expect the new type-135 to still undercut sports cars with similar performance from McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari and others considerably but even so I would assume it will be £200,000 at least.

Agreed, but I’d rather the original idea than this.

 

[Likuid]

The original type-135 was going to be an EV Emira replacement - so around the same price.
That type-135 was abandoned and the the new type-135 is a completely different type of car.
I doubt Lotus would want to sell a car within 20% of the price of the Emira (+ or -) as they would cannibalize sales off each other.

I would expect the new type-135 to still undercut sports cars with similar performance from McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari and others considerably but even so I would assume it will be £200,000 at least.

It would be smart to offer similar performance for cheaper than the competition to help build your brand and reputation back up, but I have zero confidence Lotus or Geely will do that. Sometimes it takes short term pain for long term gain, but looking at the prices of Lotus cars right now I am not seeing them conceding much on price vs. the competition. If you want someone to take a risk and buy a Lotus, because lets be honest for a lot of people it is riskier, you have to offer something more than the competition. I think Lotus thinks they have more prestige and cache than they actually do.

 

[Toomanyloti]

Those hybrid fezzas will be worth the same as a knackered fridge with a dead body inside. Too much technology and way too complicated. I suppose some specialists in the future might be able to hijack the software and mend em if they break but I really think they are a dead duck in a sports/supercar

 

[Ceej]

I’ve warmed up to the idea of hybrids much more. The ‘23-‘24 artura models had some kinks to work out, but I’ve had my ‘25 Artura for little over a year now and haven’t had any issues with it. Car is incredibly versatile. Can be completely silent in neighborhoods to full on track mode with essentially non existent turbo lag. The electric motor acts as reverse so I have 8 forward gears instead of 7. Car can get up to 26mpg highway. The plug-in EV system also keeps the 12 volt system charged so never have a dead battery. The additional weight is not ideal, but it’s at least mounted low in the chassis. The car also runs on e motor only during initial start up until the car completes an engine conditioning sequence (maybe a minute process tops)

 

[Lotustoronto]

Keep in mind that with the Emira, Lotus was originally aiming at the Porsche 911. That's the kinda management that we are dealing with.

There already is an AMG V8 powered mid-engine supercar, namely the Aston Martin Valhalla. That car is not doing too great sales wise, part of it is the price. I think the Lotus management team is going to aim at the Aston Martin Valhalla, Lamborghini Temerario, and the Ferrari Testarossa 849 in terms of price, which is not gonna go down well.

Another issue is that the Valhalla doesn't sound all that great. There is a way to make the AMG flat-plane crank V8 sound more exotic, but I don't think Lotus will pursuit that, unfortunately.

Not accurate - somewhere in the forums was Lotus launch material for Emira. Direct competition was Jaguar F-type and Porsche Cayman GTS… not 911.

I hope they make this a true competitor to Ferrari and McLaren, with a lower price tag. Worst thing they can do is make a
Non hybrid, slower, ICE only with no manual for 200k…. It’s called the Maserati MC20. No one wants it. This car needs to be something out of the ordinary.

 

[Esprit_V8]

Not accurate - somewhere in the forums was Lotus launch material for Emira. Direct competition was Jaguar F-type and Porsche Cayman GTS… not 911.

I hope they make this a true competitor to Ferrari and McLaren, with a lower price tag. Worst thing they can do is make a
Non hybrid, slower, ICE only with no manual for 200k…. It’s called the Maserati MC20. No one wants it. This car needs to be something out of the ordinary.

That might have been what was conveyed in the English sphere. To the best of my knowledge, what was conveyed to the Chinese media, particularly in private was quite different from that.

Believe me, the Lotus management team don't lack confidence, whether it's justified or not, I will simply point to the stock price and sales figures.

To give you an example, at the launch of the Eletre PHEV (marketed as ForMe in China) in China, they compared it to the Lamborghini Urus SE. Their presentation literally stated that there is no competition for the Eletre PHEV at under 3 million yuan (USD $450,000).

Of course, even at the time, people knew that the sister brand Zeekr 9X using the same platform, has a 1400ps performance variant priced at around USD $88,000. Recently a smaller and sportier Zeekr 8X was introduced with the same 1400ps powertrain at around USD$73,500. People are literally calling out their BS on the Chinese forums.

 

[Foxy87]

Emira never was intended as a 911 competitor…

 

[Luminated67]

The worrying thing about this will probably be the price, the Emira started a launch very competitive but quickly turn to be anything but cheap so chances are this will be north of £200K ($270k). Other than the price everything else is exciting.

 

[Lotustoronto]

That might have been what was conveyed in the English sphere. To the best of my knowledge, what was conveyed to the Chinese media, particularly in private was quite different from that.

Believe me, the Lotus management team don't lack confidence, whether it's justified or not, I will simply point to the stock price and sales figures.

To give you an example, at the launch of the Eletre PHEV (marketed as ForMe in China) in China, they compared it to the Lamborghini Urus SE. Their presentation literally stated that there is no competition for the Eletre PHEV at under 3 million yuan (USD $450,000).

Of course, even at the time, people knew that the sister brand Zeekr 9X using the same platform, has a 1400ps performance variant priced at around USD $88,000. Recently a smaller and sportier Zeekr 8X was introduced with the same 1400ps powertrain at around USD$73,500. People are literally calling out their BS on the Chinese forums.

Well, in defence to the Eletre; the Urus, AM DBX and Cayenne Turbo really are the only other European heritage brand competition, with high powered performance SUV's. I don't count the Ferrari Purosangue in that competition. Perhaps in China it is different, but in Europe / North America heritage and branding still matter.

However, Emira was never a 911 competitor and still isn't. Maybe with new generation coming they are looking to bring it upmarket.

I am just curious what type of manual they will be putting into the new updated Emira.... should be interesting.

 

[Foxy87]

I am just curious what type of manual they will be putting into the new updated Emira.... should be interesting.

Everyone is pretty sure none…

 

[Jinba ittai]

The worrying thing about this will probably be the price, the Emira started a launch very competitive but quickly turn to be anything but cheap so chances are this will be north of £200K ($270k). Other than the price everything else is exciting.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll launch at half price for people in the know before jacking it up.

 

[Esprit_V8]

Emira never was intended as a 911 competitor…

Well, in defence to the Eletre; the Urus, AM DBX and Cayenne Turbo really are the only other European heritage brand competition, with high powered performance SUV's. I don't count the Ferrari Purosangue in that competition. Perhaps in China it is different, but in Europe / North America heritage and branding still matter.

However, Emira was never a 911 competitor and still isn't. Maybe with new generation coming they are looking to bring it upmarket.

I am just curious what type of manual they will be putting into the new updated Emira.... should be interesting.

Look, not here to argue with you guys. Just sharing with you some info that you may not have been exposed to before. I personally don't think the Emira should be competing against the 911.

But what you and I think as a car enthusiast, and what the management team think of their products are two entirely different matter.

I am just sharing with you what I have heard from a different sphere. You look at the above example with the Eletre PHEV. Could it be that some people look at the base 992.1 911 with 385ps and think hey we have sports car with 400ps, and we even got double wishbone front suspension. Perhaps that explains some of the pricing strategy?

Of course anyone worth their salt in the car business would've known that the base 911 motor makes more than the stated 385ps implies, not to mention the build quality, heritage and much higher residual value compared to the Emira.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Everyone is pretty sure none…

Yes.... but they also said they would be all electric by 2028. IMO they may "pretend" the manual is going away so that they get a rush on the last of the Toyota engines for 2027 model year, but I fully expect another manual in the Emira. The only way it won't happen is if emissions regs actually kills the manual. Then it is out of anyone's control.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

But what you and I think as a car enthusiast, and what the management team think of their products are two entirely different matter.

"We’ve always wanted to do a more usable everyday car... Moving away from spartan sports cars like the Elise, Exige and Evora will attract more mainstream buyers who want an interesting alternative to a Porsche Boxster or Jaguar F-Type."

Matt Windle, Managing Director of Lotus Cars, before Emira even launched

 

[FlashingBlade]

Yes.... but they also said they would be all electric by 2028. IMO they may "pretend" the manual is going away so that they get a rush on the last of the Toyota engines for 2027 model year, but I fully expect another manual in the Emira. The only way it won't happen is if emissions regs actually kills the manual. Then it is out of anyone's control.

Or the platform they go with e.g. a V6 hybrid arrangement, cant support a manual, which is more than likely not guaranteed. They wont put the R&D into making it work in a single platform, low volume car. If they can make the auto work like a proper sports auto (think PDK), then they'll do it.