Lotus EMIRA is the name for the Lotus Type 31 – debuts on 6 July

Lotus reveals their new sports car is the Emira, launching in July, with ICE engines and a new platform. And the last ICE Lotus to be made.

Back in January, Lotus officially confirmed a new Type 31 Lotus will replace the Elise, Exige and Evora as Geely money allows Hethel to drive forward in to the future, And now we know the Type 31 will be the Lotus Emira, and it will launch in July.

The Emira will sit on a new lightweight aluminium platform dubbed ‘Elemental’ with design cues taken from the Lotus Evija electric supercar and with a choice of a 2.0 litre four-pot and 3.5 litre V6 – both ICE engines.

But the Emira and its Elemental platform is just the start of the Lotus renaissance, with the Evija and its ‘Extreme’ Platform following on, a third platform – ‘Evolution’ – will underpin a range (we don’t know how many constitute a ‘range’) of ‘Lifestyle’ vehicles – including a Lotus SUV – and a fourth platform, ‘E-Sports’, will sit below an electric sports car being jointly developed by Renault’s Alpine. So it should weigh about as much as a bag of feathers.

Matt Windle, Lotus MD, said of the Emira:

It’s the most accomplished Lotus for generations – the perfectly packaged, powered and formed sports car. Beautifully proportioned, shrink-wrapped, but with comfort, technology and ergonomics built in. With a design inspired by the Evija all-electric hypercar, it’s a game-changing Lotus sports car.

More details to follow, no doubt, between now and when the Emira debuts on 6 July.