Geely-owned Lotus has unveiled a plug-in hybrid version of its Eletre SUV in China with a new name: the Lotus For Me, dispensing with a naming convention followed since the 1956 Lotus Eleven sports car.
Due on sale in China in the first quarter of 2026, the For Me is the first of three hybrids the brand intends to introduce over the next three years, with no confirmation or timing yet for the Australian market.
The For Me takes the battery-electric Eletre SUV and swaps the EV gubbins for a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, front and rear electric motors, and a large (for a PHEV) 70kWh battery from CATL.
With a combined 710kW and all-wheel drive, the For Me has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds and 420km of electric range under the more lenient CLTC cycle.
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The most powerful electric Eletre, by comparison, packs 675kW and sends power through all four wheels for a 0-100km/h claim of 2.95 seconds and 400km of WLTP range from a larger 107kWh battery.
The For Me may see faster charging speeds than the Eletre thanks to its Electric Premium Architecture shared with the Lotus Emeya electric liftback.
Featuring a 900V electrical architecture instead of an 800V one, the For Me can be charged up to 80 per cent in a little over eight minutes.
In the change from BEV to PHEV, the SUV has dropped the Lotus tradition of using model names starting with the letter ‘e’, which dates back to the 1956 Lotus Eleven sports car as founder Colin Chapman looked to move away from Roman numerals.
Pricing is yet to be announced, but the Eletre – the first Lotus manufactured in China, and launched in Australia in 2024 – is priced here from $189,990 before on-road costs, with the flagship Eletre R at $279,990 plus on-roads.
Lotus, known for its handling expertise, has fitted the For Me with adaptive damping and active anti-roll bars, with Pirelli P Zero rubber and high performance six-piston Brembo brakes on the flagship version which also has an active rear spoiler.
The introduction of its first hybrid model of any kind comes as Lotus looks to turn around a significant sales slump and corresponding financial losses as it pushed its new EVs.
“The introduction of hybrid models offers more choice for luxury vehicle buyers and will help us to expand into broader markets, including regions with slower EV adoption, such as Italy and Spain and Saudi Arabia,” said Lotus Technology CEO, Feng Qingfeng, during the company’s earnings call last month.
It’s not just Lotus’ newer Chinese EVs getting the option of PHEV power, with the British-built Emira sports car also in line for such a powertrain.
Lotus lost $A396 million in the first six months of 2025, with its global sales of 2813 marking a 43 per cent year-on-year decline despite it having fresh product in new segments.
Its latest sales results don’t make for much better reading, with 4612 sales to the end of September, an average monthly run-rate putting it on target for 6149 for the full year in 2025 compared to 12,124 sales for all of 2024.
Admittedly, 2024 was a standout year for Lotus, but its current sales trajectory remains short of 2023, when it sold 6970 vehicles worldwide and posted a smaller financial loss than in 2024.
In Australia, Lotus was down 60.0 per cent to the end of November, with only 53 sales.