- Lotus is changing its mind about only making electric cars.
- The British marque dropped a gas engine in the battery-powered Eletre SUV, making it a plug-in hybrid.
- Called the For Me–yes, really–it’s the most powerful version of the luxury family car.
Lotus, like other automakers, envisioned a future where it would only build electric cars by 2028. It was ambitious, and it made fans a little reluctant to what the future would offer, but that plan has now been revised, as sales of the very expensive Eletre and Emeya EVs have been anything but stellar.
Enter the Lotus For Me, the brand’s first plug-in hybrid. Based on the Eletre SUV, the PHEV debuted yesterday in China, putting an end to the company’s ambitions of having a completely battery-powered portfolio. For now, at least.
Except for a slightly more open front grille and some discreet badging on the rear hatch, the car looks exactly like the Eletre. Under the skin, however, big changes have been made, the biggest being the addition of a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 279 horsepower on its own.
The engine, lifted straight from the Zeekr 9X luxury SUV, which is also made under Geely’s umbrella, can power the front wheels or act as a generator for the 70-kilowatt-hour high-voltage battery supplied by CATL. That’s a big downgrade from the Eletre EV’s 107 kWh pack, but the pack voltage has gone up from 800 volts to 900 volts, allowing the PHEV Lotus to charge at over 400 kW. In the technically related Zeekr 9X, the same battery can be charged from 30% to 80% in just over eight minutes.
In all-electric mode, the Lotus For Me plug-in hybrid can go 220 miles on a full charge on the very optimistic CLTC cycle, which would be around 154 miles on the EPA cycle. Not too great, but that gas motor can kick in and keep the wheels moving when there are no DC fast chargers around.
The 70 kWh battery sends power to two electric motors, and the car’s total output is an impressive 952 hp, making it the most powerful Eletre to date, surpassing even the Eletre R’s 918 hp. That’s enough to propel the 5,700-pound SUV from zero to 62 miles per hour (0-100 kilometers per hour) in 3.3 seconds.
The Lotus Emeya For Me plug-in hybrid will go on sale in China early next year, while a European debut is expected for the second half of 2026. It’s also likely that the “For Me” badging will be replaced with a more conventional “Hybrid” or “PHEV” designation.
From January through September, Lotus sold just 4,612 cars globally, a hefty 40% year-over-year decline, leading to an operating loss of $357 million. Now, the company’s hopes lie in a revamped lineup that includes plug-in hybrids, which could help it increase sales in countries like Italy and Saudi Arabia, where EV adoption has been lagging behind.
