Lotus says it will launch a hybrid supercar, codenamed Type 135, in 2028. America will only get Lotus sports cars, not the Eletre SUV or Emeya sedan. Brand not abandoning EVs, but product mix will be 60% hybrid, 40 % BEV. Lotus is officially heading back into supercar territory, and unlike the electric Evija, its new exotic will have tailpipes and V8 power. It could also wear the Esprit badge not seen on a new Lotus since 2004, though at this stage, the Geely-owned company is calling it only by its codename, Type 135. The news comes as part of a sweeping new business plan called Focus 2030 in which Lotus lays out its strategy for the next four years. As part of the plan, Lotus will launch a new supercar in 2028 that will go on sale that same year. Details are fairly thin at this point but the company did say it will feature a hybrid V8 powertrain and make in excess of 986 hp (1,000 PS). Related: Lotus Wants $189K For Its 905-HP Taycan Rival, UK Dealers Will Take $121K A single teaser image shows the rear end of supercar that strongly resembles the brand’s 2024 Theory 1 concept. Slim LED taillights are mounted above a pair of round exhaust tailpipes, with the word LOTUS picked out in gold lettering. Lotus gave no indication which OEM would supply the engine, but Mercedes-AMG already supplies four-cylinder engines for the Emira sports car and is about to launch a new flat-plane crank V8 based on the engine fitted to the latest Mercedes S-Class. Another option would be Toyota, which makes the V6s for Emiras, and has recently debuted a twin-turbo V8 hybrid GR, though that makes only 641 hp (650 PS). Hybrid, But No Plug Autocar suggests it’s AMG who got the call, and reports that the powertrain will be a regular hybrid like the Corvette E-Ray and Porsche 911 Turbo, rather than a Ferrari 296-style plug-in hybrid to keep weight low. It’s been hard for Lotus to push its traditional lightweight message lately when its headline products have been heavy electric SUVs and sedans, but it sounds like the company wants to get back to that formula where it can. That means more investment for the Emira, Lotus saying that it’ll unveil its most powerful and lightest version yet in the next few weeks. Predictably, there’s a further shift away from purely electric vehicles, though the company isn’t abandoning them altogether. Having once vowed to go electric-only, in the short-term Lotus will chase a mix of 60 percent hybrid and 40 percent fully electric cars. X-Hybrid Eletre On Sale this Year Key to that ratio is the new 939 hp (952 PS / 700 kW), 2.0-liter X-Hybrid powertain unveiled on the Eletre X (seen above) in China this spring and coming to Europe in Q4 alongside the existing EV. But according to the product timeline revealed by Lotus the related Emeya sedan won’t get the hybrid kit, and will instead remain purely electric. And it looks like the US won’t get the Eletre or Emeya at all due to punitive tariffs placed on cars imported from China. Instead, the US will be restricted to Lotus’s sports cars. And although Eletre SUVs are on their way to Canada right now in the wake of tariffs being slashed, there’s no mention of the Emeya joining them at a later date. “We are obsessed with engineering, obsessed with performance and obsessed with building drivers’ cars, and that is what will grow this business,” Qingfeng Feng, CEO, Lotus Group said of the 2030 plan. The gallery below contains images of the 2024 Lotus Theory 1 concept. Lotus