The 2022 Lotus Emira is coming

Lotus fans the world over were tuned into ‘Driving Tomorrow’ on 27 April, in which the Hethel HQ gave its most detailed vision yet of the company’s future direction. Many were hoping to see the forthcoming Type 131 sports car, but we’ll have to wait a little longer for that. It will be revealed on Tuesday 6 July before making its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed later the same week. That’s not to say Lotus didn’t reveal some details of the new car. For one thing, we now know that it will be called Emira. Lotus actually hinted at the car’s name ahead of the reveal. An image of a road was posted on social media with the name spelt out in Morse Code as the centre line. The word comes from a number of ancient languages and means ‘commander’ or ‘leader’.

The biggest news was that the Emira will not be a hybrid, but instead the final ICE car. We’ll have to wait until July to find out what engine will be fitted. At the moment, Lotus has gone as far as to say “The Emira will be powered by a choice of internal combustion engines – the last time Lotus will launch an ICE car – with an exciting new powertrain partnership. The additional powertrain option will be new to Lotus, highly efficient, use cutting edge technology and be tuned to help deliver that distinctive Lotus experience.” Both four-cylinder and V6 options appear to be likely.

Teaser images give some indication of the Emira’s styling, but it would be a push to claim we know what it will look like. One thing we can be sure of: it will be influenced by the £2m Evija hypercar. We’re also expecting the car to be more practical than the current range, with occupant ingress and egress being a lot easier. Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but the best guess places it somewhere between the Porsche Cayman and 911.

Speaking about the Emira, Matt Windle said: “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.”

The Emira is an important car for Lotus. By bridging the gap between the outgoing model range and the electric future to come, its place in the marque’s history is pretty much assured before anyone outside the company has even seen it. Not long to wait now...