More than 1000km of range? Geely-owned British brand backflips on commitment to electric-only as it announces 'super hybrid' technology to battle Porsche and Mercedes-Benz

Lotus has announced it will adopt hybrid technology as the brand joins a growing list of automakers in watering down its plans to go fully electric.

The move was announced by Lotus’ CEO, Qingfeng Feng, at the Guangzhou auto show in China this week, and means the Geely-owned brand will no longer honour its commitment to go fully electric by 2028.

Feng told reporters at the show the brand will introduce a “super hybrid” instead, which will reportedly pair ultra-fast-charging plug-in hybrid technology to a turbocharged internal combustion engine (ICE) for up to 1094km of range.

According to AutoCar UK, the move comes as buyers show reluctance to adopt premium EVs from European automakers, such as Lotus, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, with buyers at the top-end preferring to stick to ICE models instead.

There is also the issue of European tariffs on EVs made in China, where Lotus builds its electric range. Plug-in hybrids built in China, on the other hand, are exempt from tariffs.

Feng previously said Lotus would not adopt plug-in hybrid technology, according to AutoCar, due to their “compromised” driving ability once the battery is drained.

Due to their low range compared to full-EVs, plug-in hybrid cars require their battery to be charged everyday to prevent them from operating solely on their small engines, which become highly inefficient.

2025 Lotus Eletre

Lotus reportedly plans to solve the issues around everyday charging by installing 900V architecture, which Feng claims will deliver a faster charging time than battery-swapping.

Nio, one of China’s largest electric car makers and one of Lotus’ competitors, employs battery-swapping technology across China with the process of swapping out a depleted battery for a fully-charged one taking roughly three to five minutes.

Feng didn't mention what models would be fitted with the new hybrid set-up, but it might be hard to retro-fit engines to its new range of electric cars, so it could be used in all new vehicles instead.

2024 Lotus Emeya

The decision to introduce hybrid technology is unlikely to affect Lotus' plans for the Emira coupe to be the brand’s last ICE-only model.

Globally, Lotus sold 8094 cars in the first 10 months of 2024, with the brand lowering its expectations of delivering 26,000 vehicles for the year to just 12,000 in September, citing concerns over tariffs in the US and Europe.

Europe currently accounts for the brand’s biggest portion of sales, followed by China.

In Australia, Lotus have sold 141 cars to October, a decline of 7.1 per cent since this time last year.