Lotus Emira V8 in Testing & Other News

Okay so today's Lotus Technology group investor call happened this morning.

Here are some updates:

- Hybrid Plugin Macan Competitor 2026Q1 China, Q3 ROW
- Facelift 2027 Lotus Emira I4 with power increase
- Lotus Emira V6 Discontinued
- Lotus Emira V8 Euro 7 Compliant powertrain in investigation/testing/development.

Thanks @Lotustoronto for being our live discord blogger


Disclaimer: I'm basing this off recollections from someone else from the call, I haven't had time to listen to the full call myself, but some things may be inaccurate, and a lot of info has been missed too, I recommend you listen to the call yourself, the QA starts at 21 minutes in.

 

[EZcheezy]

manual V8 lotus with OEM carbon and a facelift sounds pretty sweet.

i may trade in when the time comes

 

[cyanmauve]

manual V8 lotus with OEM carbon and a facelift sounds pretty sweet.

i may trade in when the time comes

Unfortunately, I think even if Lotus did come out with it, it would be a miss in the market.

It’s going to be really hard to have a NA V8 that fits with enough displacement to match the performance of the existing powertrains. They will have to eliminate the rear cargo area, or cut into the cabin, or both.

If the N.A V8 doesn’t have more power than the i4 turbo or V6 supercharged, what’s the point? And it will cost significantly more, have no doubt. I don’t think there’s a market for the car with a significant price increase.

A $150k Emira with a V8 is a bit of a no-man’s land in the performance car world. It would have to be a really, really exceptional drivetrain to get big money in any volume.

It would move it into Z06 territory, which would absolutely crush it 0-60 and on the track. I’m not sure how it would fare against the 911, and it’s almost too much for a car that isn’t a true exotic.

 

[Teshoo Lama]

Even with a 25% tariff I think Lotus ICE cars can still compete in the US. When you account for VAT and luxury car tax, plus higher base pricing, UK and US prices are still comparable.

To make this work, the V8 speculation makes sense. I could see a small Ricardo V8 in the back, with a front-end redesigned to accommodate a frunk, pitched at junior McLaren prices. I don't see it happening, but it would be a reasonable strategy in my view.

It's a crying shame the Evija wasn't a V12. They would've had the perfect halo car.

 

[Eagle7]

Here's the problem.... Porsche wasn't exactly snoozing on the back porch when the tyranny of EV mandates began to collapse. They saw it coming and were preparing. The only Porsche I've ever loved, the 917, and this may be a dream come true...



The Evija needs a V12. The Emira needs a stunning V6, not a V8. Those V6 engines are out there; look and listen to an Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio. Look at the V12 Gordon Murray had built for his cars. How about a V6 version of that? Get serious Geely, the competition isn't sitting around waiting to see what your plans are. If you want to compete in a very hotly contested segment of the market, you're going to have to go all-in. Either that or step back and go for the $60k-$100k segment. Right now it looks like you're in the middle of the stream with one leg on one horse, and the other on a different horse. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what that's going to lead to. Eletre and Emeya-shmeya. Put Carr in charge of vehicle body design. He gets it. He understands what makes a Lotus a Lotus.