Bhisma Nambiar
Malaysians are very fond of the Lotus brand. Not because we can afford the lightweight sports cars, but rather most of us have a car with a badge that says, “Lotus Ride & Handling” :D.
Lotus just announced their latest SUV, something no one would have expected from a car company that used to only make small track-focused cars that handle like its on magnets. This is because, with the parent company of Lotus, Proton taken over by Geely, the new direction of Lotus is not a surprise. Gotta make some money, eh!
The Lotus Eletre is touted as “The World’s First Electric Hyper-SUV“, and we tend to agree. With a power output of 600hp driving its all-wheel-drive (twin motor configuration) and a driving range of 373 miles (~600 km, WLTP cycle), it certainly makes the Eletre a capable SUV. It also joins the 2-seconds club (0-100 km/h under 3 seconds).
With a 350kW DC charger, it will juice up the “over 100kW‘ battery in just 20 minutes giving the Eletre a healthy range of 400 km. These figures may vary greatly due to the charging infrastructure in place. There is also a 22kW onboard charger for AC charging
Power and performance
| Power (hp) | from 600 |
| Battery (kWh) | 100+ |
| Top speed (km/h / mph) | c. 260 / 161 |
| 0-100km/h (secs) | < 3.0 |
| Max range WLTP (km / miles) | c. 600 / 373 |
| Dimensions (mm) | |
| Length | 5,103 |
| Width with Electric Reverse Mirror Displays | 2,135 |
| Width with door mirrors | 2,231 |
| Height | 1,630 |
| Wheelbase | 3,019 |
Is it empty?
If you are thinking, does it cut back on tech? Well no. Lotus says the Eletre takes the heart and soul of the latest Lotus sports car (the Emira) and their hypercar (the Evijia) and used them as interpretations for the Eletre. If that did not mean much to you, here’s something that will. The electric motors of the Eletre integrates the controller and reducer to make the unit smaller and lighter. A five-link rear axle, air suspension and adaptive dampers all come as standard too. Paired with the low centre of gravity and the low placement of the battery, the Eletre is distinctly “Lotus”. Options include active ride height, real-axle steering active roll stabilisation and torque vectoring via braking.
Carwow showed off the Eletre in its full form here. Ah, lucky them!. On the outside, the Eletre does sort of look like a Urus but with a lower profile. Make no mistake, it is a full-sized SUV like a Tesla Model X. Design-wise, the car is unique and not Lotus like in the past. But as mentioned before, it is inspired by the Emira and Evijia. As a result, like most high-end electric cars, the Eletre does come with a host of self-driving and autonomous capablities.
The minimalist interior consists of a large 15.1 inch OLED screen. Apparently, it also retracts when not in use. The Eletre will enter production this year in Wuhan, China with deliveries expected next year in certain markets.
What is your opinion on the Lotus Eletre? Is Colin Chapman’s legacy of simplifying things dead with this SUV? We are sad to see that go. However, Lotus needed a change, and If this is the change we get, we are definitely excited to see what Lotus has in store for us in the near future.