The Eletre is a new electric Lotus for the family

This is the new Lotus Eletre, an all-electric hyper-SUV from the British sports car brand.

Lotus, owned by China’s Geely, says the Eletre takes the core principles from more than 70 years of Lotus design and engineering for a new lifestyle car for the next generation of Lotus customers.

The company’s products are famous for their ride and handling, steering and optimised aerodynamics, and the Eletre is said to have been evolved for the new SUV with expertise garnered from the all-electric Evija hypercar.

The first Lotus model outside the sports car segment is built on an all-new and scalable Electric Premium Architecture (EPA) that adapts to accommodate C+ to E+ vehicle-class battery sizes, motors, component layouts and driving technologies.

The electric power train has inspired a cab-forward design that echoes the mid-engined layout of Lotus sports cars, creating a unique look and position in the SUV segment, according to Lotus.

Two electric motors, one driving the front wheels and another driving the rear wheels, create an all-wheel drive configuration. A power output of 447kW makes the Eletre capable of 0-100km/h in less than three seconds. A 350kW charger will deliver a 400km  range in 20 minutes.

The car has five-link suspension at the rear for optimised ride and handling, while standard equipment includes air suspension and continuous damping control, active ride height, active rear axle steering, and torque vectoring via braking. It comes with four drive modes: Range, Tour, Off-Road and Individual. 

The car rides on 23-inch alloys and is equipped with ceramic composite 10-piston caliper brakes.

Gavan Kershaw, director of attributes and product integrity at Lotus, says the Eletre has been developed to deliver everything you would expect from a Lotus — outstanding ride and handling, highly communicative steering and exceptional driver engagement.

From a convenience and luxury features list each door mirror is replaced by an electric reverse mirror display. It has ultra-premium materials and carbon fibre,  a panoramic glass sunroof, OLED touchscreens, head-up display, 5G compatibility, a smartphone app and a LIDAR system with deployable sensors that supports end-to-end autonomous driving technology. 

The Lotus Eletre is on sale across global markets, with first customer deliveries in 2023 starting in China, the UK and Europe. SA availability is not confirmed as yet. Meanwhile we have been reliably informed that the Lotus Emira will be in SA by July 2022.