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Lotus bids adieu to gasoline-fueled engines with its new Emira, a mid-engine sports car available with 360 to 400 horsepower.
The Emira will provide quite a parting shot for the British boutique brand’s gasoline era when it goes on sale next summer. The company plans to go all-electric by 2028, according to Reuters. A bonded aluminum chassis sits under its angular bodywork, designed to keep weight to as low as 2,300 pounds in European specification. At just shy of 174 inches between its bumpers, the Emira is about the size of a Porsche Cayman.
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The standard engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder from Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division. Optional is a 3.5-liter V6 designed by Toyota
TM,
tweaked by Lotus. A manual gearbox with an unspecified number of gears is standard fare, while Mercedes has supplied an optional dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT) with paddle shifters.
The Lotus Emira
Lotus
The Emira makes use of 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in a choice of ultra-sticky Goodyear
GT,
or Michelin
MGDDY,
tires developed specifically for the sports car. An optional sports suspension delivers a firmer ride for track-oriented use.
The Lotus Emira
Lotus
Though Lotus is a tiny automaker, its majority owner is Chinese business giant Geely Holdings,
GELYY,
which also owns Volvo
VLVLY,
Geely’s deep pockets enable Lotus to offer higher-tech features on the Emira than on any previous Lotus vehicle. The Emira gets a 10.25-inch touchscreen, Apple
AAPL,
CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control.
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In Europe, the Emira will start at about $85,000, though that may provide only a hint of guidance to American-market pricing.
This story originally ran on Autotrader.com.
