Lotus

Porsche’s Taycan is one of the most hyped-up and popular performance EVs on sale today. By Q4 of 2023, Porsche had sold 136,000 Taycans cumulatively. The EV sedan bumped Porsche sports car sales by 3.3 percent, despite the German brand’s overall sales having dropped by 12 percent compared to 2022. While the electric vehicle market is currently experiencing a slowdown, it hasn’t stopped other manufacturers from entering the performance EV segment with their own offerings. Take for instance Lotus, a brand typically known for its lightweight sports cars. Still, now the British carmaker is giving us the Emeya – a large, EV performance sedan that wants to steal potential buyers, from the likes of the Taycan and Tesla Model S.

Remember that Top Gear test from 2008 where Jeremy Clarkson compared a Lotus Elise to the OG Tesla Roadster? Yes, the same one that led Elon Musk to sue Clarkson. Well, it appears to be coming full circle for the Elise, because we’ve got our first hint of the mysterious Lotus Theory 1, the rumored all-electric Elise, how ironic. This is a car that could shape up to be a formidable rival to the upcoming Porsche 718 EV. Lotus’ marketing chief, Qiao Xinyu, dropped a shadowy image of the Theory 1’s rear end. Sure, while the image doesn’t really reveal much, that prominent wing hovering over a sculpted rear-end, the sleek taillights flanking the classic Lotus badge, and the aggressive diffuser all but shout "sports car." But this electric silhouette throws a bit of a curveball. While the Eletre and Emeya have their sporty bits, that rear end wouldn’t be caught dead lumbering on an SUV or a four-door.