The Last Lotus of its Kind
The Lotus is on a farewell tour of the United States, after more than seven decades of wowing car enthusiasts, the Lotus is retiring the power that made it famous – gas, or as they say in Norfolk, England where the car originated, petrol. The Lotus Emira is the last car the company will build that requires gasoline, making the transition to an entirely electric lineup complete.
Hard Sale of the Latest Lotus
The company is holding events in several states to promote the new Emira. It used some great lines in its promotional material, but the company may have wanted to save for the launch of a full EV line-up.
"The Lotus story continues with a new icon: Emira. A car that doesn’t just turn heads but turns conventional thinking on its head…"
That is pretty good, but the car will still be using that old internal combustible engine with oil and gas. The engine has been used in previous models but it’s referred to as the much-loved and characterful 3.5-litre supercharged V6. There is also a four-cylinder engine available that produces 360 horsepower
The fantastic wordsmithing around this car continues:
"It’s everything you’d expect from a Lotus, but like nothing you’d expect. The journey towards a thrilling new future begins here."
The future started in 2006 when Tesla debuted as an idea, launching in 2008. All manufacturers have been playing catch up. Lotus appeared to close the gap when it rolled out plans for the Evija, an electric hypercar, in 2019. But the pandemic slowed production and the launch was pushed back to 2021.
Lotus Evija
The Evija is the true game-changer for the Lotus. It has 500 horsepower per wheel, yes 2000 horsepower. It takes nine seconds to get to 180 miles per hour. That is a head-turner that turns the industry on its head. Unlike Tesla, these cars are priced differently, add a couple of zeros. This hypercar is going for more than $2 million.
Lotus Highlights Odd Features in Latest Car
Back to the big news release from Lotus for the day – the Emira. The fantastic writing continued to promote the tour around the United States. It talked about legacy cars like the Elise, Exige and Evora while stating the Emira is “a quantum leap forward” with recognizable brand signatures.
While there are a lot of amazing features to these cars, the promotional release also highlighted the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). You know, the indicator that lights up to tell you a tire is low? Yes, the technology that has been found in much cheaper cars going as far back as 2005 is part of the Emira.
Clearly, the Emira was planned long before the automotive industry was, to use a Lotus term, turned on its head with EV technology and demand. Now, it’s trying to sell the last of its kind while they are still worth something.