Lotus CEO Qingfeng Feng on the Esprit's return as a V8 hybrid

The personal origin story matters here because it tells you something about how Feng is approaching the Esprit revival — this isn't a product manager executing a brief, it's someone with a genuine emotional connection to what the nameplate represents. That distinction shapes decisions, from how faithful the design stays to how much the engineering team is allowed to chase feel over efficiency. The V8 hybrid configuration also signals that Lotus isn't treating the Esprit as a compliance exercise or a pure EV showcase, but as a performance car that has to earn its place on driving merit. Whether the execution delivers is still an open question, but the intent reads as serious.