It’s a busy time at Lotus. Last week it announced that a sharper version of the Emira sports car is around the corner, while also teasing a new V8 supercar in the works.
While the Emira remains as its sole unelectrified model for now, Lotus is developing a hybrid version of the coupe, and it’ll lean on the joint venture of its parent company to produce its powertrain.
As reported by Autocar, the upcoming Lotus Emira hybrid will be powered by a hybrid V6 engine developed by Horse Powertrain, which is jointly owned by Lotus parent Geely (45 per cent), as well as Renault (45 per cent) and Saudi oil giant Aramco (10 per cent).
The Emira’s V6 hybrid powertrain will effectively replace the Toyota-sourced supercharged V6 fitted to numerous Lotus models since 2009, as well as the turbocharged four-cylinder supplied by Mercedes-AMG that made its debut in the Emira.
According to Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng, choosing a V6 was driven by the US market, where the existing Toyota engine is far more popular than the AMG four-cylinder.
“They told us that they love the V6 engine, and actually the V6 version is our best-seller in the US market,” Feng told Autocar.
However, this data can be seen as skewed given only the Toyota V6 engine is available with a manual transmission. Earlier this year Lotus confirmed to US publication Motor1 that the manual accounted for 88 per cent of Emira sales in the market, leaving just 12 per cent of remaining demand between automatic V6s and four-cylinders.
This could have an impact on the hybrid Emira, which will only be sold as an automatic transmission, as the gearbox will house an integrated electric motor.
The hybrid V6 powertrain in question was previewed at last month’s Beijing motor show, using the codename ‘W30’.
According to Horse, it is “intended to be deployed in mild- and full-hybrid vehicles” and will make its debut in 2028.
Weighing 160kg, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 engine has projected outputs of between 350kw and 400kW, and up to 600Nm to 700Nm of torque, while being able to rev up to 8000rpm.
For context, the Emira’s current Toyota-made 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine produces 298kW and 430Nm, while the four-cylinder AMG engine develops 298kW and 480Nm.
Crucially the Horse W30 will be compliant with Euro 7 emissions standards, allowing the Emira to be kept alive when a number of other sports cars are under pressure to clean up.
The engine was previewed in Beijing with a four-speed automatic transmission and integrated electric motor, the latter of which can add between 250kW to 450kW where needed.
“Being based on a smaller engine design is also a key reason why the V6 is so compact and light,” Horse CEO Matias Giannini told Autocar.
“That’s why it’s so competitive, and it is the lightest and smallest hybrid V6 in the world right now. There’s no hybrid V6 engine that fits in the package that ours fits.”
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