Earlier this year, Lotus confirmed the news of a new sports car, codenamed Type 131, that would make its debut this year. Three months later, the British sports car maker has not only firmed up the reveal date of the model – July 6 – but also revealed its name, the Emira.
The moniker obviously takes inspiration from the Evija, the electric hypercar with a projected power output of an insane 2,000 PS. Lotus says that Emira “features in numerous ancient languages and often translates as
“commander” or “leader”,” even though it will effectively be the baby of the range.
A few teaser images were included in the press release, showing a design that seems to borrow some cues from the Evija. This is most apparent at the front, where the car sports slim vertical headlights (with twin lines of daytime running lights) and an almost triangular-shaped bonnet.
Lotus has also announced that, contrary to some news reports, the Emira will not be a hybrid vehicle. The car will instead be the last model powered by an internal combustion engine, derived from a new powertrain partner and claimed to be highly efficient, use cutting edge technology and be tuned to deliver “that distinctive Lotus experience.” A version of fellow Geely subsidiary Volvo’s 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder, perhaps?
The Emira will also ride on a new flexible lightweight architecture called Elemental, which will utilise the extruded aluminium technology pioneered on the Elise. Speaking of which, the Emira will replace the Elise as well as its Exige derivative and the larger Evora, with production of all three also ending this year.
Lotus has big plans beyond the Emira and Evija, as it’s developing two more architectures for new market segments. The first, a premium platform named Evolution, will drive volume and revenue to new heights by underpinning a range of “lifestyle vehicles” (read: SUVs), while an electric sports car architecture called E-Sports (nothing to do with virtual racing) will form the basis of a partnership with Alpine.
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