Lotus mulls PHEV sports cars in commitment to ICE power

Lotus is testing its upcoming ‘Hyper Hybrid’ technology in sports cars as the company continues its pivot away from a pure electric future amid falling sales.

It is “investigating the feasibility” of a sports car with the high-powered plug-in hybrid technology, CEO Feng Qingfeng said on his company’s first-quarter earnings call.

Lotus reported a 42% drop in sales during the first three months of the year to 1274 cars. 

The fall was driven by a continued lack of enthusiasm for high-end EVs along with the disruption stemming from US tariff barriers, which forced Lotus to pause Emira deliveries there and cease sales of the Eletre electric SUV.

The first model with the Hyper Hybrid PHEV technology will be unveiled at the end of the year, with sales starting in the first quarter of 2026, Feng said on the call. Autocar has separately confirmed that the model will be a version of the Eletre electric SUV. 

Demand for the drivetrain will be split equally between its core markets of Europe, China and the US, Feng said. 

The performance-focused hybrid drivetrain has become a core focus of Lotus after it backed away from its commitment to become an EV-only brand by 2028.

The firm has postponed plans for an electric replacement for the Norfolk-built Emira sports car but it believes there is an opportunity to build a plug-in hybrid for markets where electrification is needed for regulation.

“We see a wide market for combustion-engine sports cars, but we also understand that a pure-electric sports car is not going to attract a lot of attention,” Feng said “So in future we will prioritise Hyper Hybrid for both lifestyle cars and sports cars.”

Lotus has previously tested a plug-in hybrid version of the Evora sports car, featuring a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor and 17kWh battery for a potential EV-only range of 35 miles.