Bizarre new hybrid from legendary brand

Details of the plug-in hybrid version of the Lotus Eletre have come to light thanks to approval documents from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The new version of the Eletre, which up until now has been a battery electric large performance SUV, will be available as a plug-in hybrid as the embattled sports car marque tries to make its range of vehicles more competitive.

Dubbed the For-Me, the new Eletre variant offers some very unusual specifications for a PHEV, scoring an enormous 70kWh battery pack as well as a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine which can either operate as a generator or directly drive the wheels.

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The relatively enormous battery for a hybrid is said to allow a driving range of up to 355km under the more lenient Chinese testing cycle (CLTC). Even when the battery is drained, Lotus claims this variant will consume 5.98L/100km.

The 2.0-litre turbo engine produces 205kW, and while the total power figures are yet to be revealed, Chinese media is speculating this version of the car will share its components with the incoming Zeekr 9X (also under the same Geely parent company), which has combined tri-motor output of 1030kW.

It is also expected to use the Zeekr’s 900-volt electrical architecture, allowing the battery to charge from 20 - 80 per cent in under eight and a half minutes.

This version of the Eletre is about the opposite of the original Lotus brand motto of “add lightness” — with a kerb weight of up to 2625kg.

Thanks to images revealed with the MIIT filing, the PHEV Eletre is virtually identical to the battery electric variant from the outside. It is expected to debut in China as early as January 2026.

Under Geely ownership, Lotus has struggled to make the same impact as other acquired or joint-venture brands like Volvo and Polestar. It also languishes compared to Geely’s Chinese premium brands Zeekr and Lynk & Co. Globally, the brand only managed to move 12,134 units in 2024.

Since then Lotus has been embattled by the new tariff environment, both in the US and Europe, where Chinese-made cars are heavily penalised. Recently, there were rumours the brand would be forced to close its historic Hethel plant in the UK due to the cost of selling cars built there, instead shifting production to the US.

Despite axing 270 jobs from the factory earlier this year, these are still rumours the brand denies.

Lotus currently offers three models in Australia, the fully electric Eletre SUV and Emeya four-door tourer (both of which are built in China on Geely shared platforms with Polestar and Volvo), and the UK-sourced Emira 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo sports car.

Plug-in hybrids are seen as the future hope of the embattled brand according to the brand’s CEO Feng Qingfeng, as the tide turns against electric cars globally.