Lotus Might Source Volvo's Twincharged Engines; Esprit Successor Coming in 2020

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

For Lotus, life has been good under Geely. The British automaker is finally turning a profit again and now has access to more resources by way of its Chinese parent company. Presently, the brand only offers the light-and-nimble Evora for sale in the United States. But its global fleet isn’t exactly huge, either.

However, the plan calls for Lotus to expand through the introduction of a crossover vehicle, an entirely new sports car, and a rumored successor to the Esprit. The CUV, nearing the final stages of development, should take advantage of the Geely-owned Volvo SPA architecture (which underpins the XC60, among others). Lotus is also expected to adopt powertains from its kindred companies, which could include electrified units from Polestar and Volvo’s twincharged applications.

It’s unlikely the brand will set any horsepower records, which is fine (as that isn’t Lotus’ style), but the new motors should do the trick. Besides, who wouldn’t want to brag that their sports car is turbocharged and supercharged?

Lotus boss Jean-Marc Gales anticipates the flagship coupe will arrive in 2020, according to a report from Autocar. He claims the vehicle will be lighter than the Evora, which sits at 3,179 lbs in its heaviest configuration, and decidedly more lavish. Basically a new Esprit, Gales said the car’s formula is “efficiency, aerodynamics, agility and braking working together in balance.”

Still, defeating the Evora GT430 in terms of performance and plushness will be a difficult task if Lotus also wants to keep the weight down. To best it, the new model should output similar numbers or better. Fortunately, Volvo already has motors that could do the job. The electrified, supercharged, and turbocharged T8 hybrid already makes 400 horsepower wedged inside the XC90. There’s an even burlier four-cylinder hybrid making its way into the Polestar 1, too. Both of these could be engineered to suit Lotus’ needs and deliver a vehicle that’s economical when it needs to be and raucous the rest of the time.

Gales said Lotus would probably adopt powertrains from other divisions within Geely, but intendeds to stick with Toyota-sourced units for the immediate future. The smallest of those is the 1.6-liter 1ZR-FAE residing in the base Elise, whereas the biggest is the 3.5-liter 2GR-FE V6 housed in the center of the aforementioned Evora GT430.

“Crossovers can be hybrid or full electric,” said Gales. “There are some years left for combustion engines in sports cars, but maybe a mild hybrid would work.” The only downside we see with electrification is weight. If Lotus wants to keep its vehicles light, adding a battery pack isn’t the way to go. So, a mild-hybrid system may be as deep as the company is willing to dive into electrification for vehicles that need to keep a trimmer waist.

The CEO did say Lotus is open to using fully electric powertrains once the technology evolves.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Willyam Willyam on May 10, 2018

    Why can I not stop looking at the porta-potty behind it? Age? Prostate?

    • WildcatMatt WildcatMatt on May 30, 2018

      The funny part about that is there's just enough of the port-a-potty visible that it also looks a little bit like a Police Box.

  • Kyree Kyree on May 10, 2018

    It'll be interesting to see if Lotus also adopts Volvo's electronics architecture. Unless the goal is true anachronism, a la Morgan, any premium car that's expected to sell in volume is going to need a modern electronics stack, and Lotus hasn't got the parentage or self-contained resources to just develop one. Plus, with Volvo, there's precedent. As we know, Aston Martin started Volvo's then-current electronics architecture around 2005 (as both companies were under Ford) with the Vantage, and only just stopped using it with the advent of the DB11 and new Vantage...which have Mercedes-AMG electronics and interfaces.

  • FreedMike Off topic, but folks, this site is not working well for me from a technical standpoint, and it doesn't matter if I'm using my phone, or my computer (on two different browsers). It locks up and makes it impossible to type anything in after a certain point. Anyone else having these issues?
  • Syke Kinda liked the '57, hated the '58. Then again, I hated the entire '58 GM line except for the Chevrolet. Which I liked better than the '57's. Still remember dad's '58 Impala hardtop, in the silver blue that was used as the main advertising color.
  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • Ravenuer The rear view of the Eldo coupe makes it look fat!
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
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