In what the manufacturer is calling “a world’s first,” Lotus Cars is lifting the veil on its newest vehicle, and it’s getting a lot of attention.
And for good reason. The UK automaker, majority owned by China’s Geely Holding, has pledged to go all-electric by 2028 and its newest model, dubbed the Eletre, indicates a solid footing.
The Eletre Type 132 is being called a “hyper SUV” – a designation that applies to how the vehicle, says Lotus, takes “the heart and soul of its Emira sports car and blends it with the all-electric Evija hypercar, to create an all-new category.”
And the specs seem to back it up. The 4 wheel drive Eletre sits on an 800 Volt architecture with a 100 kWh battery pack, resulting in an SUV that offers 600 HP, a top speed of 161 miles per hour and the ability to go from 0 to 60 in less than 3 seconds. The target maximum range of the battery is more than 370 miles.
Lotus refers to the Eletre as being “born British, raised globally” and the sharp styling paired with high tech features derived from the company’s new R&D center in China seems to fuel this tagline.
New Atlas describes the Eletre as “absolutely overflowing with tech,” as evidenced by the numerous touch screens that populate the interior. Custom lights indicate changes to the vehicle’s status, including battery charge or temperature change or an incoming phone call. A 1,380-watt, 15-speaker set-up complements an interior that’s said to be produced with sustainable carbon fiber and man made textiles.
The first Eletres will be produced in Wuhan, China later this year and pricing will start under 100,000 British pounds, according to Bloomberg, which – let’s point out – may not be under $100,000 US dollars, though for a premium vehicle such as this there are bound to be takers. And Lotus will hope to scale its platform over the coming years to other "premium lifestyle performance electric vehicles" so there are more exciting options to come.
