Lotus spent the better part of the last decade insisting its future was fully electric. Now it's building a V8 supercar again. That should tell you almost everything you need to know about where the global performance-car market currently stands in 2026.The storied British sports car maker confirmed it will return to the combustion-engined supercar business in 2028 with a new hybrid flagship producing almost 1,000 horsepower. Lotus says the new car will use a V8 hybrid powertrain specifically to preserve weight and driver engagement.Officially known as the Type 135, the car marks an ideological pivot for Lotus as it abandons its plan to become an EV-only brand by 2028.Unofficially, somebody inside Lotus appears to have forgotten how metadata works. One of the teaser image filenames released was labelled "Esprit_Teaser," which could point to a potential resurrection, or not. Whatever it ends up actually being called, the Type 135 will be the first Lotus to house an eight-cylinder engine since the original Esprit disappeared in 2004. Draw your own conclusions.Lotus says the car will use a standard hybrid system rather than a plug-in hybrid setup specifically to avoid excessive mass. That's an increasingly common realization among performance brands. Plug-in hybrids can deliver outrageous power numbers and cleaner emissions testing figures, but they're also heavy. Very heavy. Physics remains deeply inconvenient sometimes, don't they?Just ask BMW, which became exasperated that people on the internet were fat-shaming the 5,390 lb M5 and its PHEV propulsion system.There's already some speculation around what engine Lotus might actually use. The company currently sources Mercedes-AMG's turbocharged four-cylinder for the Emira, and expanding that relationship to include AMG's updated M177 twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 could be on the table. Mercedes recently revised that engine with a flat-plane crankshaft design, which should give it a more exotic personality.Lotus released a teaser image showing the rear of the upcoming car. The proportions borrow heavily from last year's Theory 1 concept-the silhouette looks low, wide, and properly dramatic in the old-school supercar sense with two big exhaust boom tubes right there in your face.The automaker also said the new supercar will lean heavily into weight reduction techniques inspired by older Lotus models. The Theory 1 concept used a carbon-fiber tub and reportedly previewed technology that was already 85 percent production-ready.The company also confirmed that the Emira is not disappearing anytime soon. A revised version is coming soon, described as both the "most powerful" and "lightest" Emira built yet. An Emira hybrid is thought to still be in the works, though perhaps not quite as soon as originally expected. Look for the Type 135, or the new Esprit, to show up in 2028.Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here.