Why An Electric Lotus Elise Successor Might Be Off The Table For Now

Lotus was looking to launch the Elise’s EV successor in 2027, but it may be pushed back if it can't live up to the "archetype."

Lotus Type 135 teaser

Photo by: Lotus

Andrei Nedelea

By: Andrei Nedelea

Aug 1, 2024 at 12:00pm ET

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When Lotus introduced the Elise mid-engined sports car in 1996, the model embodied the company’s ethos of “adding lightness” like almost no other Lotus before it and weighed under 1,600 pounds. The model evolved over time and was kept in production until 2021 when Lotus said it would get an EV replacement in 2026.

Work on the future electric sports car codenamed Type 135 was already underway when the Elise was phased out. Lotus then announced it was pushing back the launch of the model to 2027.

Now even that seems uncertain as per Lotus Group design boss Ben Payne, who recently talked to Autocar about the upcoming electric sports car.

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Lotus Type 135 has been in the works for a few years

Lotus announced that it was working on a bespoke electric sports car to serve as the spiritual successor to the Elise and it had plans to launch it in 2027. However, we may see it later if EV batteries don't become lighter in the next couple of years.

Payne said current EV batteries make cars too heavy, which is something that just wouldn’t be suitable for a Lotus sports car, even an electric one. He said “the technology right now does not really allow you to recreate that product in a convincing way,” noting that it’s much easier to make a larger, taller vehicle electric. In contrast, an electric sports car is much harder to create given the size and weight constraints that it imposes.

He went on to explain that “the archetype of the moment is the larger, higher product, because you can very simplistically package the required technical elements into that size of vehicle more easily.” When asked whether this means Lotus would miss the 2027 launch deadline for the electric sports car, which would not only serve as a replacement for the Elise but also the current Emira, he declined to give a definitive answer, saying that it was still “100% possible” to have the vehicle ready by then. However, “it’s a difficult job.”

Lotus may want to keep its future electric sports car light, but it has no problem selling heavy EVs made in China under its brand. The Lotus Eletre electric SUV weighs about 5,800 pounds, while the Emeya electric sedan weighs just under 5,500 pounds—making it around 500 pounds heavier than its rival, the Porsche Taycan Turbo.

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The electric sports car scene should be populated by many enticing models in 2027, with the launch of the electric Porsche 718, the Polestar 6, the production version of the Toyota FT:Se and the Caterham Project V. The latter may have parts from other manufacturers but is still expected to weigh just over 2,600 lbs. One way Caterham kept the Project V so light was by giving it a relatively small 55-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which is expected to provide 249 miles of WLTP range (closer to 200 miles on the EPA test cycle).

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Lotus could also keep the pounds off by giving the electric sports car a small battery. The car won’t be as small as the Elise we know, though, so it won’t have to go down the same route as Nyobolt with its electric reinterpretation of the classic Elise, which will have a small 35 kWh battery good for a claimed 155 miles on one charge.

The Lotus Type 135 will be built in the UK on a new dedicated electric sports car platform that is 37% lighter than what the manufacturer uses in the Emira. It can take battery packs ranging in capacity from 66.4 kWh to 99.6 kWh both in the floor and behind the seats and it allows for two- or four-seater configurations.