Okay, so you first have to be able to afford a Lotus, which I can tell you is not in my financial plans for the future. However, if you are lucky enough to put a brand new Lotus on your to-do list, then you might want to wait until more about the future of their hybrid powertrain is unveiled. If you are a green conscious person, the wait could be well worth it; rumor has it that the powertrain is going to come from Toyota, a company that has made a household name of the word hybrid.

According to Automotive News, a Toyota-supplied gasoline-electric drivetrain will be on the option list for the Lotus Elite beginning in 2014. Okay, so maybe you can buy that Lotus now and trade it in when the new hybrid model rolls out to customers. The Elite will be unveiled at this year’s 2010 Paris Motor Show, a show that will commence at the beginning of October. The eco-friendly version will feature a hybrid gearbox with integrated electric motors. The fun and technology doesn’t stop there; other adds will include a kinetic energy recovery system that uses heat build up during braking to capture energy and recharge the battery. Maybe that system could also power heated seats—just a thought.

Toyota didn’t confirm or deny the arrangement with Lotus. However, they did say that they would entertain such deals “because we would like to see environmental technologies adopted and used as widely as possible.” Of course, it would also help them recover their R&D costs and make further improvements. Hard to believe that Toyota introduced its first hybrid in 1997, the same year it then put out the now well know Toyota Prius.

Stay tuned right here to AllSmallCars.com for more information as we get it and be sure to keep an eye out for news from the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

 

 

 [Source: Automotive News]