An estate-bodied Lotus Emeya is on the cards, which would effectively give the marque a fourth ‘lifestyle’ model line and serve as a rival to the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo.
Design chief Ben Payne declined to confirm whether plans for a shooting brake Emeya exist, but he said: “Let’s just say I know a lot of creative people that these kinds of products appeal to. The design team is always looking at the next opportunity and how we can do something a bit different and get more [opportunities]. Is it in the product plan? I can’t comment on that.”
This echoes the thrust of Lotus commercial boss Mike Johnstone’s comments: “Consumer tastes change. New market segments appear and new technologies come into play that mean we could do things in a different way. We’re always looking for new opportunities to make sure we can maximise
Such a model has the potential to be the most powerful series production estate car yet, given the Emeya R packs about 150bhp more than the Taycan Turbo S Sport Turismo, the current title holder.
Lotus Emeya: Price, specs and release date
The ground-up reinvention of Lotus continues apace as the brand takes a bold leap into another new segment with the Emeya – a sleek electric sports saloon conceived to rival the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S.
Carrying the torch from the 1990 Lotus Carlton into the electric era, the Emeya arrives just 18 months after Lotus revealed its first SUV, the Eletre, as part of a new family of lifestyle-oriented electric cars engineered and built in Wuhan, China.
The Emeya is based on Lotus’s new Electric Premium Architecture. This bespoke structure is adaptable to suit various car segments as well as different battery sizes, electric motors, component layouts and intelligent driving technologies.
Although they are entirely unrelated to the sports cars Lotus still builds in Hethel, outstanding performance remains a priority for these new-era EVs. As a result, the fastest Emeya packs a dual-motor powertrain that sends up to 905bhp and 726lb ft through all four wheels. That’s sufficient for 0-62mph in 2.8sec, matching the top-link Taycan Turbo S and making the Emeya one of the quickest four-doors on the market.
Read more: Lotus is changing - and it's high time our perception did, too
Join the debate
Add your comment
Estate car would suit me, even more now that the likes of Volvo are leaving that market.
So long as there is room for a bike in the back, and roof rails to hold a canoe, I'm sorted.
You are missing the point.
I think the £100 - £120k price tag makes it pretty much a non event. How many cars are sold in that price range? Of those how many are going to want a Chinese saloon. Its going to sell in tiny numbers.
Personally i think the use of the Lotus name is a bad idea, and i fail to see what this offers that we didnt already have.
A decent EV for £20 to £25k, that might be worth looking at, no matter what the badge.
This is just a collection of odd statements,mostly political, I don't think many people care or should I say enough, MG already make a car with 435 BHP ,does 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds and only cost £36K! and they are made in significant numbers, so a low volume car like this and others don't really matter, spent what you like on what you want, why should you be made to feel guilty?, how about Jeans?, 7,500 Larson per pair to produce, do we care?
So Lotus should be building £20k EV's, really.