It’s fair to say Lotus’ plans to use the Emira as a swansong for its petrol-powered sports cars then transition into a maker of high-end EVs hasn’t exactly gone to plan. Although cars like the Eletre and Emeya have helped it break into a slightly wider market segment, sales are still miles behind where they should be, and the company is still in a precipitous financial position, despite plenty of investment from its owner, Chinese carmaking giant Geely.
So, like so many other manufacturers with plans to go electric that wound up being overambitious, it’s time for a reset, which the company is calling Focus 2030, and the big news is: Lotus has confirmed that in 2028, it’ll launch a brand new, V8 hybrid supercar. With the exception of the ultra-limited, all-electric Evija hypercar, it’ll mark Lotus’ first attempt to compete in the supercar sphere since the last of the V8 Esprits in 2004, but the game has moved on significantly since then.