“The launch of the first-ever fuel cell production model will add another efficient drive system to our product portfolio,” said Joachim Post, board member for development.
BMW says its third-generation hydrogen fuel cell system marks a major engineering advance. Compared with the iX5 Hydrogen, the new system is around 25% smaller, yet offers greater power density and improved integration into a variety of platforms, including the X5’s Cluster Architecture (CLAR).
Post confirmed the new system is intended for use across future hydrogen models, with “improved range, higher output and significantly greater efficiency”.
Production of the X5 Hydrogen’s new fuel cell stack will take place at the BMW Group’s plant in Steyr, Austria, where new production lines and testing facilities are currently being installed.
Additional components, including a new hydrogen-specific high-voltage control unit known as the BMW Energy Master, will be manufactured at the company’s Landshut facility in Germany. Initial prototypes are due to be built at BMW’s Dingolfing plant, Autocar has been told.
Lotus confirms plug-in hybrid Emira for 2027
Sports car will gain same ‘Hyper Hybrid’ technology being developed for the brand’s luxury EVs
News
by Nick Gibbs
3 mins read
29 August 2025
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Lotus has confirmed it is planning a plug-in hybrid version of the Emira sports car as well as an ‘upgrade’ to the V6 model as part of a facelift timed to comply with the Euro 7 emissions regulation change in 2027.
Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng told analysts on the company’s second-quarter results call the model would gain the same ‘Hyper Hybrid’ technology scheduled to be introduced in an SUV later this year, expected to be the Eletre.
The current four-cylinder Emira Turbo, which uses a Mercedes-AMG petrol engine, appears to on the chopping block amid the EU7 makeover. The Emira V6 uses a Toyota engine, and Lotus has previously said that can’t be upgraded to meet the new regulations.
The inclusion of PHEV technology in the Emira as part of a closer cooperation between the China-based Lotus Technology division and Lotus Cars in the UK, which focuses on sports cars.
Feng made no reference to the 28 August announcement that Lotus would cut around 40% of its workforce in the UK – 550 jobs – but said the recent decision to combine Lotus Technology with Lotus Cars would bring efficiencies.
“We see big room for efficiency improvements while we consolidate a lot of the functions together, including the technology synergies,” Feng said.
He confirmed his commitment to the UK arm, which had been rocked by news – since denied – that Lotus wanted to move production out of the UK.
“We have ambitious goals for the Lotus Cars operation in the future,” Feng said. “We will focus on the very-high-performance attributes and also high-performance engineering services.”
Lotus’s commitment to the future of the Emira will bring a sigh of relief to those remaining workers at the company’s production plant in Hethel, Norfolk, who faced an uncertain future as the planned electric replacement was halted while sales in the US plummeted on the imposition of higher import tariffs in April.
Lotus deliveries in the first half slumped by almost half to 2813 as the company halted Emira exports to its key US market on the tariff increase. Emira deliveries fell 64% to just 891 in the first half.
Exports to the US resumed in July after the UK government negotiated a cut in the tariff from 27.5% to 15%.
Lotus posted a net loss of $313 million (£231.6m) for the first half of 2025, an improvement from the previous half-year performance, when it lost $424m.
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Lotus has pivoted to PHEV technology after sales of its electric Eletre SUV and electric Emeya saloon fell short of ambitious targets amid a wider reluctance among luxury car buyers to move to EVs.
“We will actively promoting our Hyper Hybrid technology,” Feng said on the call.
Lotus previously tested a PHEV version of the Evora sports car featuring a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, an electric motor and a 17kWh battery, giving it a potential electric-only range of 35 miles. The so-called 414E never made it to production, though.
There was some good news for Lotus in that sales of its Eletre and Emeya EVs rose in the second quarter in China, helped by upgraded versions of the Eletre.
