Lotus Might Bring Back The Esprit As A V6 Hybrid Supercar
After the success of the all-electric Lotus Evija, the Geely-owned car company is now reportedly looking to refresh an old name, the Esprit. According to Autocar, this new sports car will use a V6-based hybrid powertrain and styling that was taken from the design language of the Evija.
Using the Esprit badge, Lotus hopes to use this new car as a fitting tribute to wave goodbye to the current models while also readying us for the next wave of Lotus cars. Because of this, it will be based on a new platform that Lotus plans to use for a number of its next models.
The V6 engine will be sourced from Toyota, which isn’t surprising. But the hybrid system will be made in-house with its underpinnings from Volvo technology (also owned by Geely). This powertrain will reportedly be able to produce around 500hp, making it faster and more powerful than the current top of the range Evora 410.
We’re yet to know how similar the car will look to the iconic Esprit or the Evija, but we’re sure it will be a true two-seater, unlike the Evora which has two back seats.
In a bid to boost sales in both China and North America, the car will be built with emission regulations in mind. This car is hopefully going to take Lotus’ sales from 1,500 to 5,000 annually. The 2010 Esprit Concept pictured in this article could very well be a hint of things to come. If it looks half as good as that (minus maybe the Lambo-like front), we’ll be in for a treat.
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