British automotive company Lotus is known for its exquisite sports and race cars. This week the marque unveiled its much-anticipated successor to its previous Elise, Exige and Evora models: a modern speed machine called the 2022 Lotus Emira.
The release of The Emira marks the final Lotus combustion fitted sports cars; all successive models will be fueled by electric energy. The decision to produce solely electric vehicles is part of Lotus’ broader all-electric strategy finalised in 2018. The shift to electric power was catalysed by hardening emissions laws in markets such as Europe and the US combined with positive customer advocacy for sustainable automobiles prompted the change. CEO Matt Windle said, “In 2018…we saw that our products were dated. This allowed us to be bold, to be different. We could not write our plan without battery-electric vehicles,” The company has just revealed their first fully electric vehicle, the Evija.
The Emira is the first all-new sports car Lotus has released since it released Evora in 2009, and it challenges the story behind previous Lotus models. Lotus automobiles are known as leisure, high-performance vehicles as opposed to convenient everyday cars. The Emira aims to revolutionise this perception and become “A car that doesn’t just turn heads but turns conventional thinking on its head, with its exotic supercar looks, everyday usability and enhanced comfort combined with class-leading Lotus driving dynamics”.
Although The Emira has visual similarities to its recessive models, such as the size and shape of the Evora or the Evija inspired bonnet, the new model has significant structural differences. The two-seater model is the first to be built using the brand’s new Sports Car Architecture (SCA), which makes it radically different from the form of any other lotus. The upgraded SCA delivers a more spacious two-seater cabin and provides 208 litres of load space behind them. According to a press release, the Emira has an impressive, lightweight of 1405kg due to the bonded extruded aluminium chassis technology pioneered by the Elise model.
The design of the spacious interior is minimal yet hyper-modern. It features a cockpit and dashboard fitted with a 12.3- inch digital gauge and 10.2-inch accommodating touch screens that integrate Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. To revive the sports car as an everyday commodity, Lotus have added physical improvements such as larger door openings making it easier to get in and out, a pair of cupholders in the centre console and storage space in the door behind the seats and behind the engine.
“The Emira captures the visual drama of an exotic supercar, with great proportions, wide footprint and a cabin that sits low down between muscular haunches,” says design director Russell Carr who led the project. “Add in that it is practical enough to be useable every day, of the highest quality and accessibly priced, and it is undoubtedly a compelling and seductive alternative to the existing sports car competition.”
While The Emira features remarkable architecture, what’s under the hood will also spark interest for sports car enthusiasts. It comes equipped with a choice of two engines: either a Mercedes AMG-sourced, turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder or a Toyota sourced supercharged V-6 engine. Buyers have a choice between either a torque converter automatic or manual transmission. Exact engine specifications are unknown, but it should produce outputs between 269kW and 298kW, promising to do 62mph in less than 4.5 seconds.
The first deliveries of the 2022 Lotus Emira are promised to Europe in March and May next year. The Australian debut and pricing it unconfirmed at present, but in the UK, it is estimated that entry-level models will be priced at approximately $110,000. The models are under construction in Lotus’ newly renovated manufacturing facility in Hethel in Norfolk, England.