The 2026 Lotus Elise Will Prove Electric Drive Is Better - gallery

Matt Windle, Managing Director at Lotus, said:

“It’s our DNA: dynamics, aerodynamics, lightweighting – that’s what we do on all our products. We still want these to be Lotus products.”

In the end, the Type 135 will be the first car to ride on Lotus’ new electric sports car platform, also known as the E-Sports Architecture.

This platform is capable of supporting single- and dual-motor configurations with power outputs ranging from 470 to more than 800 horsepower.

If you put the pieces of the puzzle together, that means the spiritual successor to the Lotus Elise will have at least 470 horsepower, or nearly double that of the most powerful Elise ever produced.

For reference, the Elise Sport 240 Final Edition offered up 240 horsepower from a 1.8-liter engine.

More importantly, Lotus is aiming to keep the new sports car as affordable as possible by borrowing parts from various companies under the Geely corporate umbrella.

That could be a good thing or a bad thing, but as long as the company doesn’t over do it, it should leave room for a truly unique sports car while keep the end consumer pricing in check too.

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