Toward the end of the last decade, Lotus was in a tough spot. With bankruptcy looming, Geely swooped in to purchase it, and the British car company appeared back on track, with big plans to electrify its lineup and cater to more mainstream companies as it seeks a more global footprint. The Lotus Emira was to be Lotus’ last internal-combustion vehicle as it shifted to an EV-only business model by 2028.
Well, we can count Lotus among the growing list of automakers that have pumped the brakes on an all-electric future, as softening interest in EVs means the company will pursue hybrid technology for its lineup. Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng confirmed as much to the Wall Street Journal, according to a report from Autocar.
‘Super Hybrid’ To Push The Limits Of Overall Driving Range
In addition to electric-only powertrains, Feng said Lotus will develop “Super Hybrid” technology to serve as range extenders. This would include a turbocharged internal combustion engine to provide up to 680 miles of overall range. Lotus’ range extender tech will charge the battery quickly in order to maintain enough charge in the battery to avoid the loss in performance other range-extended EVs experience when the combustion engine powers the electric motor.
The cars will also use ultra-fast plug-in charging courtesy of a 900-volt battery architecture — more powerful than the 800-volt tech used in some of today’s fastest-charging EVs. Feng said this “flash charge” tech would be even quicker than the practice swapping batteries used by its Chinese rival Nio.
The result, Lotus hopes, will be to encourage customers who would otherwise be reluctant to buy an all-electric vehicle with less range and longer charging times. Range-extended EVs and plug-in hybrids have seen growing popularity in China as of late. Additionally, PHEVs are exempt from new E.U. tariffs imposed on Chinese EVs.
There’s nothing to suggest that Lotus will return to ICE-only vehicles, nor did Feng specify which models in the Lotus lineup would receive the “Super Hybrid” tech. For now, we can expect to still see Lotus vehicles using electric propulsion, just with a little help internal combustion.
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