2024 Lotus Eletre- Lotus' First SUV, and it's Wicked Fast

GranTurNismo

GranTurNismo

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United States
Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA
The 2024 Lotus Eletre electric SUV has officially been unveiled. Starting at $85k, the Eletre S packs in 600hp and can do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, along with offering 373 miles of driving from a single charge. Even spicier is the $120k Eletre R, which has 893hp and can shoot to 60mph in just 2.9 seconds, making it one of the quickest SUVs as of now, almost 0.4 seconds faster than the Urus S in the 0-60.

The Eletre comes with five drive modes, active air suspension, torque vectoring, matrix LED headlights and 22-inch, 10-spoke forged wheels, plus wireless phone charging, 12-way electric seats, privacy glass, an active rear spoiler, configurable ambient lighting four-zone climate control, a 1,380 W 15-speaker KEF HiFi and LIDAR tech for when regulations allow autonomous driving. The souped-up R model gets a handling pack, carbon fiber trim, black wheels and badges, stainless steel pedals and high-performance tires.

While it is of course confirmed for the EU, it is unknown whether the US market will also get the Eletre.

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Mmm... while fairly pudgy up front with the grill, I actually think this is a quite lovely machine. While people thought some modern Lotuses were shying away from the "light makes might" formula, the last vehicle I'd expect to be "light" would be an SUV, even an SUV from Lotus. A lot of electric vehicles are fairly heavier than most non-electric cars. Unlike a lot of other people, I don't immediately cringe at the notion of yet another SUV. I try to be an automotive enthusiast as much as I try to be a motorsports enthusiast. So I actually think this is a pretty lovely SUV. Maybe one should be colored in either British Racing Green with a yellow stripe or the classic black and gold colors from Lotus F1 teams of the past.
 
The styling isn’t wowing me like the Lamborghini and Ferrari. This is Lotus, it should be like the Elise or Evora in styling. The new Crown is looks similar in profile. Maybe even Nissan-like, as well.
 
This could have had any other badge and nobody would bat an eyelid. There's nothing about this that says 'Lotus' in any way - no brand identity at all. It's a completely generic electric SUV, just like every other manufacturer is unceremoniously crapping out.
 
05XR8
The styling isn’t wowing me like the Lamborghini and Ferrari. This is Lotus, it should be like the Elise or Evora in styling. The new Crown is looks similar in profile. Maybe even Nissan-like, as well.
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Given that Lotus is owned by a Chinese company it's not a surprise that the styling is catered for that market, and this thing is practically wearing the Urus' hand-me-down clothing.

daan
Colin Chapman will be turning in his grave.
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I'm pretty sure his bones have been going at 6,000 RPM ever since Dany Bahar was in charge, so nothing new there.
 
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Beige/clay colour aside (why introduce your new dull-segment car in an equally dull colour - It's like they're not even pretending it's anything other than a Kia Sorrento by Lotus), it's not bad looking, but at this stage i'm convinced you can never make an SUV look like anything other than an SUV. It's all about the proportions. In pictures the DBX and the Purosangue are about as sport-looking as you're going to get in an SUV - but as i've seen neither in the flesh i can't tell if they genuinely pulled that off. The Urus could easily pass as a Seat/Cupra version of the fellow VW Group Touareg/MBL Evo platform and no one would bat an eyelid.
 
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First drive and interior impressions of the Eletre



Overall, if you ignore brand identity, the car seems really nice. If this is able to help fund more Lotus sports cars, I think this will be good
 
Needless to say I'm not happy. All hail the Coventry Climax and be saved from this dreary, soulless, electric nightmare. I wouldn't care if it had 1,000,000 horsepower and could fly, it's completely devoid of any character, has no provenance and never will because it won't race or innovate anything. I don't care if Lotus was "forced" to jump on the electric bandwagon, I don't buy electric watches for the same reason, they have no soul. I need carefully orchestrated combustion and a design made by someone who doesn't make everything a right angled computer wedge. I'm as excited about this as I am about a phone or a toaster. Nothing but another electric car, literally nothing more.
 

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