Lotus Eletre review: This £100k & 161mph electric SUV will turn heads
THIS is the car that Colin Chapman always wanted to build.
An SUV. Yes, really.
The genius Lotus founder — father of the Esprit — had two parking spaces at work, one for a sports car and one for his Range Rover.
His vision was to design a Lotus for every stage of your life.
A two-seat sports car for the young and carefree.
A two-seat sports car for the old and mortgage-free.
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In between, he knew we needed something big and practical for the kids and for towing things.
Hence his Range Rover.
Forty years after Chapman’s untimely death at 54, Lotus is finally making an SUV he would be proud of.
His son’s words. Not mine.
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Clive Chapman said: “My father was a designer of racing cars and sports cars but always pragmatic and practical. And he always had a practical car to hand.
“At work, in fact, there were two parking spaces — one for the Lotus and one for the practical, everyday car.
"I have no doubt my father would love the opportunity to design something like an SUV.”
Something like this pure-electric Eletre
Clive said: “The designers have come up with a lot of features which would tick Dad’s box and he’d be happy with that.”
Officially endorsed, then.
Right, let’s drill down into the detail because there’s lots to discuss here, starting with the name.
Eletre means “coming to life” in some Eastern European languages and follows the Lotus tradition of every model starting with the letter E.
Size-wise, Eletre is just a couple of millimetres off a Lamborghini Urus in all directions, so you can see where the benchmarking has been done.
Price-wise, Eletre will start around £100k, whereas an Urus is £183k. Performance-wise, both are crazy-fast.
Eletre is 600hp, 4WD and rockets from 0-62mph in less than three seconds. Top speed is limited to 161mph. And that’s just for starters.
The main dish will be a peri-peri-hot version nudging ONE THOUSAND HORSEPOWER.
Key facts: Lotus Eletre
Price: £100,000
Battery: 100kWh
Power: 600hp
0-62: 2.9 seconds
Top speed: 161mph
Range: 373 miles
CO2: 0g/km
Out: 2023
Looks-wise, Eletre is a “truly beautiful car carved by air”, according to Lotus.
No, mate. Carmen Electra is truly beautiful. Eletre is an electric SUV.
But it will turn heads. And it is technically impressive.
Trick aero hugs Eletre to the road the faster you go but is also crucial for maximising range.
Every cut and every angle does a job, including the skinny camera wing mirrors.
The front grille has active shutters and the rear spoiler is deployed automatically at speed.
To keep weight down, the body panels are aluminium and most of the black bits you see are carbon fibre.
Eletre has targeted a range of 373 miles from a 100kWh battery.
Mega-fast 800v charging adds 62 miles every five minutes. Like a Porsche Taycan.
The cabin is L U S and H. Ultra-premium man-made microfibres combine with an ultra-thin digital dash which includes a separate passenger screen. Like in a Ferrari.
The main brain is a 15in OLED central touchscreen and there’s another tablet in the back if you go for the four-seat configuration.
Other observations. Air suspension is standard. Which I’d say is essential with heavy batteries and 23in wheels. Eletre also has deployable LIDAR self-driving tech.
But we’ll gloss over that because you won’t be able to use it anywhere anytime soon.
Besides, a Lotus is all about feel behind the wheel. Which is why I’ll finish with some words from Gavan Kershaw, chief test driver at Lotus.
Gav said: “We know the world is watching, so there has been an obsession with getting everything just right: Ride and handling, steering and exceptional driver engagement.
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“Everyone is delighted with it — it’s a world-class product and a true Lotus.”
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With five doors.
- LOTUS will make Eletre in Wuhan, China – you may have heard of it – from 2023. A Porsche Taycan rival will be built there too. As will a smaller Porsche Macan-sized SUV. The first battery-powered Lotus sports car will be produced at Hethel, Norfolk, from 2026. We can see strong Esprit vibes.
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