Lotus boss torches his own hypercar with one weight number
Feng Qingfeng drew a line at 1,800 kg. Almost nothing in his own lineup clears it — including the 2,000-hp Evija hypercar.
Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng has just done what brand heads almost never do — publicly called nearly his entire lineup mediocre. Speaking to media in China on June 2, he laid down the law: a real sports car must weigh no more than 1,800 kg. Anything heavier falls short. Full stop.
The backlash was instant. Chinese social media zeroed in on the uncomfortable detail: barely anything in Lotus’ current range clears that bar. And the first casualty is the brand’s crown jewel — the electric Evija hypercar. Nearly 2,000 hp, four electric motors, a price tag pushing two million pounds — and a kerb weight of 1,887 kg. Almost 1.9 tonnes. By the CEO’s own yardstick — mediocre.
Feng went further. In the era of electrification, he said, peak power figures have lost their value. Horsepower is easy now; a heavy body still ruins handling. Even 2,000 hp in a car over 1,800 kg is still, in his words, mediocre.
Lotus has built its identity for decades on Colin Chapman’s rule — “add lightness.” Holding the line is harder today: batteries, hybrid hardware, electronics, mandatory passive safety. Most automakers go the other way, masking weight with power, active suspension and software. Today the 1,800 kg ceiling is missed by the Lamborghini Revuelto, the Aston Martin Valhalla, and the Evija itself. The only Lotus that scrapes under it is the petrol-powered Emira, at around 1,460 kg.
So why would a CEO set himself up like this? Because it isn’t about the past. It’s a pitch for what’s next. Lotus has just walked back its plan to go all-electric by 2028 and confirmed a V8 hybrid supercar with over 1,000 hp — a hybrid, not a plug-in, deliberately, to save battery weight. Alongside it, the Type 135 is in the pipeline as the brand’s next true sports car.
Read between the lines and Feng has effectively guaranteed it: the next real Lotus will land under 1,800 kg. Everything in the current lineup? A detour the CEO has just admitted to, out loud.