Lotus also backs down on 2028 full-electric plan

Chinese-owned British sports car icon Lotus, which was on track to be an electric-only brand by 2028, is backing down on its plan and will add extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs). It’s the such-and-such car manufacturer swallowing its green intentions to give in to the surge of negative perceptions of EVs by part of the general public and luxury car buyers in particular.

The plan is now to create ‘Super Hybrid’ technology with ultra-fast plug-in charging possibilities combined with a potent turbocharged combustion engine (ICE). According to Lotus CEO  Feng Qingfeng, speaking to journalists at the Guangzhou Motor Show in China, this should provide a supercar with a 1095 km range.

Loophole into Europe

Offering hybrids with an ICE would not only soothe the range anxiety of the luxury car buyer but offer a loophole into Europe to avoid the import tariffs on Chinese fully electric cars. This is a perverse side effect of the tariffs, allowing other Chinese carmakers also to seize the opportunity with both hands.

Other Geely brands, like Volvo and Zeekr, among others, have already torpedoed their fully electric plans to include hybrids in their offers to feed the feeling—also in China—of many people that they’re better off when it comes to easing their range anxiety.

Preferring an eight- or twelve-cylinder

And among the super-rich, the ones that like to buy supercars, the anti-EV feeling is even more pronounced. “Luxury car engines are already very powerful, and the driving experience is quite similar as for EVs, with eight-cylinder and 12-cylinder engines performing well,” Feng told reporters of the Wall Street Journal.

Feng didn’t say which Lotus models will use hybrid technology. Lotus has always rejected the idea of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) before because these need to be charged daily, as they only have a limited battery. And plugging in and waiting ‘too long’ for the car to be charged is something many buyers of premium vehicles have proven to hate like death.

Flash-charging

EREVs have a range extender that boosts electric useability but can become sluggish when the battery is depleted, and the ‘smaller’ combustion engine has to do the job on its own. According to its CEO, Lotus will have the ICE engine recharge its battery in a flash.

Lotus unveiled its “Hyper Hybrid EV technology” at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The 900V Hyper Hybrid EV technology features a Hybrid Electric Drivetrain and dual Hyper Charging technology: Ultra-Fast Plug-In Charging and Ultra-Fast On-The-Drive Charging.

In less time charged than swapping

Feng assured the journalists that when stationary, the 900V tech would charge the car in less time than battery-swapping would take. Knowing that today’s leader in battery swapping, Chinese premium EV brand NIO, only needs under three minutes for this, that would be a technical tour de force.

That is if Lotus cars could flash-charge large 75- or 100 kWh batteries like Nio is swapping. However, batteries for PHEVs or EREVs are typically much smaller.

In the first ten months of 2024, Lotus sold 8,631 vehicles, 35% in Europe, with the Lotus Eletre and Emira as best-selling models. Total revenue reached $653 million, more than doubled year-on-year. Still, it posted a €414,8 million loss in the first half of 2024.