Only three more years of ICE Emira?

[Nick in Sydney]

We've probably discussed this before, but if you look closely at the wording in the Lotus SPAC investor presentation, it very clearly states that Lotus will be a BEV only company by 2027.

The January SPAC presentation specifically says that "ICE production will end in 2026." The July presentation doesn't include this statement but does note the Emira will be converted to BEV from 2027 and Lotus will then be BEV only.

If they stick with this plan then the "real Emira" is only going to be offered for sale for about three more years. This also raises doubts about whether Lotus Cars will even bother with S/GT or other special versions. They probably won't be able to resist an Emira Final Edition in late 2026!

 

[simonb]

if they continue with their teething problems with emira, and have no reliability issues with the Wuhan EV products, I suspect the switch will come sooner

 

[Nick in Sydney]

if they continue with their teething problems with emira, and have no reliability issues with the Wuhan EV products, I suspect the switch will come sooner

Yes! Although I think this forum creates a massive echo chamber that exaggerates the scale of these issues. Lotus is currently delivering ~4,500 Emiras a year, and we have a handful (ie, less than five) people on this forum who have had genuinely terrible "lemon" experiences.

 

[0pirates0]

if they continue with their teething problems with emira, and have no reliability issues with the Wuhan EV products, I suspect the switch will come sooner

From my experience of driving emira AT 3.5, 2.0T and eletre, I think the problem of poor quality of emira is based on the procedure of "handcrafting".

 

[EMIRADILEMMA]

From my experience of driving emira AT 3.5, 2.0T and eletre, I think the problem of poor quality of emira is based on the procedure of "handcrafting".

You've driven the 2.0T?! How did you manage that?

 

[Tokion]

We've probably discussed this before, but if you look closely at the wording in the Lotus SPAC investor presentation, it very clearly states that Lotus will be a BEV only company by 2027.

The January SPAC presentation specifically says that "ICE production will end in 2026." The July presentation doesn't include this statement but does note the Emira will be converted to BEV from 2027 and Lotus will then be BEV only.

If they stick with this plan then the "real Emira" is only going to be offered for sale for about three more years. This also raises doubts about whether Lotus Cars will even bother with S/GT or other special versions. They probably won't be able to resist an Emira Final Edition in late 2026!

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I doubt that “Emira will be converted to BEV” at all. It will rather be replaced with the new dedicated BEV Model 135 sports car that is currently being designed and developed in Hethel.

Another issue will be whether the Lotus Group will allow Hethel a slight extension to the time period it is allowed to keep on manufacturing the Emira? But a major issue may become changes to regulations that would demand major changes and updates to the Emira, and this would not be financially feasible.

 

[virtualmacho]

Or, would they even allow Hethel to continue to exist?

 

[Rainier]

Their do seem to be challenges on the charging infrastructure side of things outside of Lotus control,
for example...

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Or, would they even allow Hethel to continue to exist?

It seems so since they have applied for planning permission to build another new facility there to manufacture the Type 135. At the moment they seem committed to the "sports cars in England to protect the brand" strategy.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

I doubt that “Emira will be converted to BEV” at all. It will rather be replaced with the new dedicated BEV Model 135 sports car that is currently being designed and developed in Hethel.

I've wondered about that too. However, the investor presentation very clearly says that they will have 3 BEV sports cars in 2025 (Evija, Emira, Type 135) .

 

[virtualmacho]

It seems so since they have applied for planning permission to build another new facility there to manufacture the Type 135. At them moment they seem committed to the "sports cars in England to protect the brand" strategy.

I agree, but just wanted to point out that it's not set in stone or anything. The application can be retracted, major organizational changes can happen, and strategies can change... Let's wait and see. I would like to see the Type 135 to succeed, regardless of origin of manufacture.

 

[0pirates0]

You've driven the 2.0T?! How did you manage that?

a dozen of emira i4 had been delivered in China.

 

[0pirates0]

Or, would they even allow Hethel to continue to exist?

Hethel still will be responsible for all the production of emira and electrical emira(type 135 or 136) and all future 2-seat super cars

 

[Lotustoronto]

type 135 is suppose to be a convertible / more Elise like I thought?

I could see them overlap Emira and type 135 for a couple years, then move the Emira into BEV and a bit of a re-design. If I had to guess an ICE Emira ends in 2030 - 6 more years, they will need to squeeze every ounce of profit.

Now the manual V6 Emira.... Different story, that has a much shorter time frame.

 

[Hethel Merman]

They will still be able to sell gasoline powered cars in most of the USA beyond 2035 though right?

 

[Andrew P]

We've probably discussed this before, but if you look closely at the wording in the Lotus SPAC investor presentation, it very clearly states that Lotus will be a BEV only company by 2027.

The January SPAC presentation specifically says that "ICE production will end in 2026." The July presentation doesn't include this statement but does note the Emira will be converted to BEV from 2027 and Lotus will then be BEV only.

If they stick with this plan then the "real Emira" is only going to be offered for sale for about three more years. This also raises doubts about whether Lotus Cars will even bother with S/GT or other special versions. They probably won't be able to resist an Emira Final Edition in late 2026!

View attachment 31140

I reality this date will move back. It is being driven solely by European governments who have no understanding of the practicalities of going fully electric and are not investing in the infrastructure. When I talked to senior Louts people at Goodwood they would keep ICE longer if they could.

 

[EspritGuy]

type 135 is suppose to be a convertible / more Elise like I thought?

I could see them overlap Emira and type 135 for a couple years, then move the Emira into BEV and a bit of a re-design. If I had to guess an ICE Emira ends in 2030 - 6 more years, they will need to squeeze every ounce of profit.

Now the manual V6 Emira.... Different story, that has a much shorter time frame.

The future is electric, so why bother moving the Emira to BEV (as you said) if the Type 135 is impending? The latter is sure to be Emira-inslpired stylistically.
I suspect the V6 will fade and i4 moves to the forefront as the electric future approaches. Get while you can.

 

[Cwolf]

They will still be able to sell gasoline powered cars in most of the USA beyond 2035 though right?

Yes, so far we have not caved to the cult of climate change like some other countries have. Although some States like California are limiting gas models in 2035.

 

[Lotustoronto]

The future is electric, so why bother moving the Emira to BEV (as you said) if the Type 135 is impending? The latter is sure to be Emira-inslpired stylistically.
I suspect the V6 will fade and i4 moves to the forefront as the electric future approaches. Get while you can.

If they are building more factory space for the type 135 at hethel they will have plans for the existing facilities. Would make sense to create two different sports cars (ev) in the future. Perhaps 135 is more Elise like and convertible and Emira turns into a track focused EV (like old exige ) … especially if Motorsport derived variants is going to continue into the future.

Just my 2 cents - maybe Emira gets scrapped altogether after ICE and something else comes down the road.

 

[TomE]

The headline spec for Type 135 puts it in the Emira category rather than Elise.

Lotus couldn’t assume the EU-imposed timeframe for ICE sales ending would move. So they had to commit to a new EV sports car to join the model range after Type 134.

They’ve got some flexibility on when to ramp down and end V6 and i4 sales, depending on what happens with legislation and demand in different regions. Type 135 launch has a specific timeframe and they’ll build an extra factory at Hethel for it, so it’s not directly connected to Emira production capacity.