Porsche, Lotus Retrench on BEVs

Two iconic sports car brands, Porsche and Lotus, are backing away from battery-electric-vehicle pledges to invest more into powertrains with internal-combustion engines to follow consumer demand.

As the market’s appetite for BEVs continues to fail to meet projected consumer demand, the two automakers are switching development efforts to products that are seeing meaningful sales increases.

Porsche, which had promised to field a 2030 model range 80% dominated by BEVs now looks set to bring new hybrid and ICE models to market at least until the European Union’s proposed new-vehicle emissions targets from 2035.

The automaker has already presented its new performance hybrid powertrain for the next 911 model and this is likely to be rolled out to other models in its lineup.

It has also patented an innovative 6-stroke engine that claims better emissions efficiency and more power.

On top of this, Porsche invested about $100 million in e-fuel commercial production to keep the ICE alive, betting on the EU agreeing to their use in new vehicles after its 2035 deadline.

Geely-owned Lotus is making the same U-Turn on BEVs six years after outlining plans to go all-electric by 2028.

The boutique automaker is committing to producing a new range of plug-in “hyper” hybrid-powered vehicles as outlined in its quarterly financial results this week. At the same time Lotus also will be bringing more pure ICE models to market for the foreseeable future.

Its 900V hybrid system claims a combined range of more than 683 miles (1,099 km). Lotus Technology CEO Feng Qingfeng says during the earnings call: “We will be the first one globally to launch this 900-volt hyper hybrid EV technology.”