CarBrandLogos archive · Lotus · 2021

LotusLotus Emira

The company's last petrol car, offered with a Mercedes turbo four or a Toyota supercharged six.

Photo: Calreyn88 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Lotus history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Lotus Emira, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Emira exists to close a chapter. It replaces the Elise, the Exige and the Evora simultaneously, and Lotus has stated that it is the last internal-combustion car the company will build, with everything after it running on batteries under Geely ownership.

2022 Lotus Emira GT4 White · MrWalkr · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

It uses a development of the bonded aluminium chassis architecture Lotus has refined since the Elise, with a transverse mid-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive. Two very different powertrains are offered: a 2.0-litre turbocharged four from Mercedes-AMG with an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and the 3.5-litre supercharged Toyota V6 carried over from the Evora, which can still be had with a six-speed manual and an exposed shift linkage. Buyers who care about such things have made their preference clear.

Lotus Emira IMG 8027 · Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lotus Emira First Edition MYLE Festival 2025 DSC 9463

In production

The body, designed by Daniel Durrant under Russell Carr, is the most conventionally exotic shape Lotus has produced, and the interior is a substantial improvement on anything the company had managed before, which was not a high bar but needed clearing. It is built at Hethel, and it will be the last thing built there in this form.

Lotus Emira First Edition MYLE Festival 2025 DSC 9463 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2022–present

Engine

2.0&nbsp

Body

2-door coupé

Technical specification

The Lotus Emira, in detail.

Production: 2022–present
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door coupé
Layout: Transverse mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine: 2.0 L Mercedes-AMG; AMG Mercedes-Benz M139 engine; M139 Turbocharger; turbocharged Straight-four engine; I4 ; 3.5 L Toyota Toyota GR engine#2GR-FE; 2GR-FE Supercharger; supercharged V6 engine; V6
Transmission: 6-speed Aisin Seiki#Aisin AI; Aisin AI Manual transmission; manual (3.5 L) ; 6-speed Aisin Seiki#Aisin AI; Aisin AI Toyota U transmission#U660E; IPS automatic transmission; automatic (3.5 L) ; 8-speed AMG Speed
Designer: Daniel Durrant under Russell Carr (exterior); Jon Statham (interior)
Assembly: United Kingdom: Hethel, Norfolk
Manufacturer: Lotus Cars