For several years, Lotus Cars seemed determined to turn the page on combustion engines once and for all. In 2023, the British manufacturer still claimed that the sporty Lotus Emira would be its « last internal combustion car », as part of a strategy to become a 100% electric brand by the end of the decade. Three years on, the brand has revised its ambitions. With the arrival of the Lotus Eletre X, the British manufacturer is introducing a plug-in hybrid powertrain for the first time in its history.
A revelation from China
We’ve known it since 5 December 2025, when the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Technology published an approval file for a vehicle called « Eletre For Me ». Behind this name lies the future plug-in hybrid version of the 100% electric SUV launched by Lotus in 2023.
Confirmed by Lotus Cars at the beginning of 2026, the timetable is now clear: the first deliveries are expected in China at the end of March 2026, before a European launch scheduled for June. The French market should be served a few months later, by the end of the year.
This development comes at a particular time for the manufacturer. Although the brand’s electric models, in particular the Lotus Eletre and the Lotus Emeya saloon, have enabled Lotus Cars to achieve a record 12,134 worldwide deliveries in 2024, their volumes are still below the manufacturer’s initial ambitions, which were initially aimed at more than 25,000 annual sales in the medium term.
An even more powerful hyper-SUV
In technical terms, the Lotus Eletre X not only adds a combustion engine to the existing electric SUV, it also becomes the most powerful version in the range. The hybrid system develops a total output of 952 bhp, compared with ‘just’ 918 bhp for the all-electric version. The performance is equally impressive, with a 0-100kph time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 230kph.
The most striking change is in terms of range. Lotus has adopted a more compact battery supplied by CATL. Its capacity has been reduced from 112 kWh on the electric version to 70 kWh on this plug-in hybrid variant. Despite this reduction, range in electric mode remains particularly high for a PHEV: 420 km according to the CLTC cycle, which corresponds to around 350 km on the European cycle (WLTP). With the internal combustion engine, total range then exceeds 1,200 kilometres.
Ultra-fast charging for a plug-in hybrid
The other major innovation concerns recharging. The Lotus Eletre X is based on a 900-volt electrical architecture capable of handling up to 430 kW of power.
Thanks to this technology, the battery can go from 20% to 80% charge in just nine minutes. An unprecedented figure for a plug-in hybrid vehicle. This is far more efficient than some of its rivals, such as the Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid or the Range Rover Sport P550e.
A sign of a change in strategy
Above all, the arrival of this hybrid version illustrates a change in strategy for Lotus. When the Chinese group Geely relaunched the British brand in 2017, the stated aim was to transform Lotus into an all-electric premium manufacturer.
But the dynamics of the car market have evolved more slowly than expected. In China, plug-in hybrids now account for almost 40% of new car sales, compared with around 15% for 100% electric models.
The Lotus Eletre X could thus become the first representative of a new generation of Lotus hybrid models. According to industry indications, the Lotus Emeya saloon could adopt similar technology around 2027, while the sporty Lotus Emira could follow in 2028.
This scenario would mark the end of the « all-electric » strategy announced a few years ago.
