'Lotus is arguably the most evo automotive marque there's ever been'

There’s something magical about Lotus. Not only in the way the cars drive (though that’s some pretty powerful witchcraft) but in the affection and passion it kindles in people. Not least those at the Hethel headquarters of Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

There are long-life Lotus team members who’ve been through multiple eras of the brand: different owners, different bosses, different challenges, but their passion for the cars and the marque itself never fails to shine through. 

Today, from the outside looking in at least, the picture at Hethel is unclear. Since Geely took Lotus ownership in 2017, its funding has enabled the Lotus Emira sports car, which looks a million dollars and caught the world’s attention (and plenty of deposits) on its debut and likewise the Evija electric hypercar (which costs rather more than a million dollars). 

Geely’s focus is primarily on Lotus’s new EV start-up chapter, building the Eletre and Lotus Emeya in Wuhan. If that mission achieves its targets, it would in theory lend a strong footing to the future of Lotus sports cars, but Hethel has gone on record as saying the i4 Emira will be its last combustion-engined car – save for niche projects such as the Type 66 Can-Am tribute.

Although the joint venture announced with Alpine in 2021 to produce a sports car was cancelled, the Lotus Theory 1 Concept revealed this week is a sign perhaps that Lotus will remember that low-slung sports cars are its bread and butter in this new EV era.

Twas ever thus: Lotus has sailed on choppy waters before, and the longest-serving members of its team have seen it all. They always keep the faith, and perhaps we should too. Because there’s magic at Lotus. And it would be wrong for the Emira to be a full stop rather than a comma at the end of one of the greatest sports car stories ever told – and arguably the most evo automotive marque there’s ever been.