Lotus has unveiled the Eletre, an astonishing car it’s calling the world’s first electric ‘hyper-SUV’... and it's fair to say the entire motoring world has just sat up and taken notice.
This is a true car of ‘firsts’ for the historic British firm.
It’s the first-ever SUV from Lotus, and in fact it’s the first Lotus to ever have four doors. It’s also the first-ever Lotus that’s not a dedicated sports car.
It can’t take credit for being Lotus’ first battery-electric vehicle, as that honour goes to the £2m, 2,000 hp Evija hypercar first glimpsed in 2020.
But the Eletre is arguably much more significant than the uber-exclusive Evija, because it’ll be within the reach of mere mortals as opposed to the super-wealthy as it does battle with the likes of the electric Tesla Model X as well as the traditionally-powered Lamborghini Urus and Aston Martin DBX.
The first thing to note about the Eletre is that it forms part of Lotus’ plans to become a ‘truly global performance car brand’, born as a result of collaboration with colleagues in China, Sweden and Germany.
The second thing you need to know is that the Eletre means business, and does it’s best not to detract from the Lotus ethos championed by founder Colin Chapman.
The Lotus designers have even tried their best to make the Eletre a ‘mid-engined’ SUV.
Peter Horbury, Senior Vice President, Executive Advisor, Design at Lotus, reveals
“The result is a ‘Hyper-SUV’ that is genuinely different to what’s on the market; the electric powertrain has inspired a ‘cab-forward’ design that echoes the iconic mid-engined layout of Lotus sports cars, creating a unique look and position in the SUV segment. The arrival of the Eletre signals the start of a new era of pure electric SUVs.”
That ‘start’ shouldn’t be too far away, either, which production due to begin in China later this year.
So what else do we know about the Eletre?
The Eletre is four wheel drive, has a battery capacity that’s over 100kWh and with power from 600hp.
A 350kW charger will deliver a 248 miles range in just 20 minutes while the men in white coats at Lotus are gunning for an electric range of up to 373 miles between charges.
Lease customers can expect to join the ‘Two Second Club’, as the Eletre will rocket from 0-62mph in less than three seconds. To put those stats into perspective, the standard Tesla Model X has power of 670 hp and a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds. The Model X Plaid is something of a different beast, having power of 1,020 hp and a 0-60mph acceleration time of 2.5 seconds.
The Eletre will also come with what Lotus boasts is the ‘world’s first deployable Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system in a production car.’ What that really means is that the system supports end-to-end autonomous driving, something that’s not yet legal in the UK but soon could be, and Lotus is making sure the Eletre is ‘future-proofed’ for that legislation change.
As for how the Eletre looks, Lotus is quick to point out that this is a ‘high riding sports car’, not a lumbering SUV. There are design cues here from the Evija and Emira, too.
It can ride on 23 inch alloys if you choose that option, though 22 inch rims come as standard.
Meanwhile at the rear there’s an eye-catching, full-width ribbon light strip that can appear in four different colours, depending on your mood, and play a part in a ‘theatrical unlocking sequence’ that greets owners as they walk up to it.
The back-end is dominated by a cantilevered carbon fibre ‘floating’ split roof spoiler, a motorsport-inspired design feature that evokes race car winglets.
Step inside the cabin and Lotus has gone with a lightweight but ultra-premium approach, where luxury abounds but where you can see how excess pounds have been shed.
There’s a floating horizontal light that changes colour depending on the battery charge or how you’re interacting with the infotainment system, while a 15 inch touch-screen automatically folds flat when not required.
A head-up display using augmented reality technology also comes as standard.
As for other driver assistance and safety systems, the Eletre will be available with Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Mitigation Support Front, Lane Change Assist and Collision Mitigation Support, to name just a few tech highlights.
The car has five-link suspension at the rear for optimised ride and handling, while standard equipment includes air suspension and Continuous Damping Control (CDC). Active ride height, active rear axle steering, an active anti-roll bar and torque vectoring via braking are all available.
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