Earlier this week, Lotus admitted it won’t go purely electric by 2028 as initially planned. The Geely brand has now shared preliminary details about how it intends to keep the gasoline engine alive. During the Q3 2024 earnings conference call, CEO Feng Qingfeng spoke highly of the so-called Hyper Hybrid technology currently in the works. He essentially reaffirmed the company has no intentions of going purely electric in the foreseeable future.
A plug-in hybrid powertrain, the new setup will enable cars to offer a maximum driving range of more than 684 miles (1,100 kilometers). The interesting bit shared by Lotus' head honcho (through a translator) is the ability to drive the car running strictly on gasoline. He went on to say a combustion engine would be more efficient than an electric motor at higher speeds, such as when driving on highways.
Lotus calls the combustion engine an “ultra-fast on-the-drive charging” system, which is likely marketing jargon for the gas engine behaving like a generator. The ICE will juice up the battery five times quicker than the energy consumed during regular driving. Doing so will give cars equipped with the Hyper Hybrid setup “uninterrupted electric performance in any situation.” The Norfolk-based brand promises strong acceleration even in “extreme cold weather” as well as at high speeds.
When used as a generator, the combustion engine juices up the battery to give a car equipped with a Hyper Hybrid system the same driving experience as a pure EV but with a much longer range. Of course, that's provided there’s enough gasoline in the fuel tank. These won't be the first electric cars to use a range-extending gas engine. Relevant examples include the quirky BMW i3 REx and the Mazda MX-30 R-EV with its rotary engine. The upcoming Ram 1500 Ramcharger as well as the new Scout models will also have a gas range-extender.
As much as we’re glad Lotus is keeping the combustion engine alive, it looks as though it’ll mostly work in the background. Weight is also an issue since a range-extender will add complexity to an already heavy EV. The Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan both the scales at well over 5,000 pounds. So much so for Colin Chapman’s “simplify, then add lightness” motif.
On the other hand, prolonging the life of the good ol' gas engine could lure in more buyers. Lotus is already improving in that regard as sales went up by 136% in the first nine months of the year, reaching 7,617 units.
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