Lotus Eletre review
“Though this isn’t a familiar Lotus, the Eletre is a very competent attempt at applying Lotus philosophy to a seemingly incongruous product”
Good stuff
Steering, body control, the way it disguises weight, interior and tech
Bad stuff
Endless noise about not being a ‘proper’ Lotus, initial brake pedal grabbiness, annoying ADAS
What is it?
Mildly controversial in the intellectual bin fire of social media, this. Mainly because ‘this’ is the new Lotus Eletre, and it is essentially everything the internet thinks a Lotus should not be; an electric SUV with fat skeins of technology woven through it.
It’s also produced in Wuhan, China, which seems to provoke a strange kind of wrinkle in some people’s foreheads that suggests this final piece of information confirms that a five-seat sporting SUV is indeed the antichrist and will bring about the fall of civilisation by not weighing under a tonne and having a 1.8-litre Rover K-series engine.
Still, if you can wade through the thick layer of Colin Chapman memes and borrowed outrage, there seems to be a lot of interest in Lotus picking up and trying something new. Presumably something that will appeal to more people than an ICE two-seater with the luggage capacity of a teaspoon.
So what we get is a five-seat SUV with a 112kWh battery, a max of 373 miles of WLTP range (depending on spec), super fast 800-volt charging and some bits of Lotus-ology applied to make it interesting to drive. Loads of tech in there, too.
It’s not pitched as a game-changer, simply the Lotus of SUVs. Which takes more than just a badge and vague gesturing towards dynamic prowess, to be fair.
Hmm. So is it at least fast?
Yes, and reliably so. In the UK we’ll get three levels Eletre, Eletre S and Eletre R. Eletre and Eletre S are mechanically identical bi-motored single-speed SUVs, both with just over 600bp. They’ll hit 62mph in 4.5 seconds and run to 160mph. The Eletre R gets an uprated (and heavier) rear motor with a two-speed ‘box strapped to it to provide 900bhp+ and 0-62mph in sub three-seconds. Also, just wanted to point out that if you say the word ‘Eletre’ enough times, it starts to sound really weird. Eletre. Eletre. ELETRE.
Stop that. Lotussusess are supposed to be light though, right? So is it?
Hmm. No. But it isn’t particularly fat either, in the context of an electric car of this size. A 112kWh battery weighs in the region of 650kg, so with the basic Eletre weighing in at under 2,500kg (2,490kg, to be exact), that’s not bad at all. The S and R weigh 2,520 and 2,640kg respectively, for reference. Add a few kilos for options, but that’s where they start.
For context, a Tesla Model X with a 95kWh battery weighs 2,540kg+. So there’s a good bit of thoughtfulness thrown into this platform, which is ‘all new’ according to Lotus, but we suspect is built from elements shared from Geely’s global new platform strategy. Put together in interesting and bespoke ways, sure, and with much aluminium. More in-depth measuring is needed.
Is it any good?
Well, it’s certainly a conversation-starter. There’s lots of aero, and a drag coefficient of 0.26 is pretty good, with the kind of styling that seems to get more detailed the more you digest it. Including more holes and gaps than you expect.
Read More https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/lotus/eletre
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