1,000-HP Lotus V8 Hybrid Supercar Is Coming In 2028, Who Wants To Bet It'll Be Named Esprit?

It's been over 20 years since Lotus had a V8 under the hood of one of its cars. Since then, it's messed around with four cylinders, six cylinders and even electrification, but at long last, it looks like the V8 is back. The equal parts storied and troubled British automaker has teased a new V8 hybrid supercar that's set to hit the streets in 2028, and I'll give you exactly one guess as to what it's going to be called.

Right now, Lotus simply refers to the car, which will sits above the mid-engined Emira, as the Type 135, but we don't expect that name to stick, because there's little doubt in our minds that this 1,000-horsepower beast is going to be called anything other than Esprit. There's no word on exactly what motor is going to power the Type 135 when it goes into production. After all, it's been a hell of a long time since Lotus has built its own engine. Currently, its only combustion-powered car, the Emira, uses either a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder from Mercedes-AMG or a supercharged 3.5-liter V6 from Toyota. I wouldn't be shocked if the Type 135 employs the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 found in other Mercedes-AMG products, but Lotus says it will use its propriety X-Hybrid system we recently saw on a new Eletre variant. I suppose time will tell in that regard, as well as where it'll be built. Lotus says production is "expected" to take place in Europe, but it remains to be seen if that'll happen at its home factory in Norfolk, England, or somewhere else.

Oddly, Lotus has touted the Type 135 as the company's first supercar, which it just, well, isn't. I mean, you could argue the Esprit V8 was a supercar for its time, and even if you don't count that, the all-electric Evija definitely is one. I mean, yes, Lotus is only planning to build 130 of them, and it may have only made a dozen or two by now, but it has over 2,000 horsepower and can hit 217 mph. That's absolutely a supercar (or, I guess it's more of a hypercar). Whatever, I don't make the rules.

At least we know the new supercar won't just be a hopped-up Emira, as Lotus says it's an "all-new car." Right now, there's just one teaser image to go off, showing the awesome-looking rear end. It seems to take a hell of a lot of inspiration from the Theory 1 concept vehicle that we first saw back in September of 2024, pictured below.

The Type 135 is part of a wider shift away from battery-electric vehicles at Lotus after the company badly fumbled the all-electric plans it previously announced. Lotus said it was going to be all-electric by 2028, and that's very much not happening anymore. In 2025, it suffered a $371 million operating loss and deliveries fell a worrying 46% to just 6,520 vehicles, according to Automotive News.

This car is part of a wider company reset that it's calling "Focus 2030." It's meant to emphasize hybrids in an effort to return to profitability, and it sets a long-term goal for the company to return annual sales to 30,000 vehicles by that year. Its breakeven point would be at 20,000, AutoNews says.

"Lotus was born from the rebellious spirit of Colin Chapman, and that is not lost today. Focus 2030 will reset both the brand and the business to keep us true to our DNA," Qingfeng Feng, Lotus Group CEO, said in a statement. "We are obsessed with engineering, obsessed with performance and obsessed with building drivers' cars, and that is what will grow this business."

The company says it wants to get back to its roots in many ways (believe it or not, the electric Eletre crossover may not be it) by focusing on lightness, aerodynamics, engineering and driver engagement. We'll learn more details about the Type 135 later this year.