New Lotus Esprit with Evora underpinnings and V6 Hybrid on the way

Lotus are planning a new Lotus Esprit for 2021 based on the Evora underpinnings with V6 Hybrid, bridging the leap to a new platform and models.

Now Lotus comes under the global umbrella of Geely, we can expect big things to happen at Hethel, not least the arrival of the Lotus Evija as an electric hypercar.

But the Evija is just the start, and we can expect to see a whole new range of Lotus models in the coming years as Geely funds a new direction for Lotus, including a Lotus SUV.

But that’s not going to happen until Lotus has a new platform so, according to Autocar, there’s going to be a ‘bridging’ model between the new and the old. And it’ll be based on the Evora’s underpinnings.

Perhaps called the Esprit – and perhaps not – the new Lotus will use the Evora’s underpinnings – although as a new model sitting above the Evora, not replacing it – and come with a V6 engine, probably sourced from Toyota and perhaps good for up to 500bhp.

The Toyota V6 is expected to use some of Volvo’s know-how with supercharging, turbocharging and hybrid to deliver the power, and just like every other Lotus there’s ever been lightness will be high on the agenda.

It sounds like a plausible plan, and perhaps the last look at a new Lotus Esprit (above), when Dany Bahar was planning to transform Lotus a decade ago, gives us a clue how it will look. Although a new Esprit (if that’s what it gets named) will probably take its design cues from the Lotus Evija (below).