Lotus has announced the imminent arrival of its Eletre SUV, which already from the name, leaving little room for interpretation, and above all as the market wants, is obviously electric. This is undoubtedly a combination that will indignant many car purists of the British brand. Everything else should be satisfied, starting with the customers and ending, of course, with the Lotus shareholders.
Why? The answer is simple: luxury and sporty SUVs are chickens that lay golden eggs. And to confirm this there are many examples, such as those recently proposed by Lamborghini, Maserati or Porsche. Virtually every self-respecting manufacturer has taken the risk and created an electric SUV, and apparently has no reason to regret his decision.
The same is very likely to happen with Lotus, albeit from an automobile enthusiast’s point of view, Eletre clashes with the brand’s DNA. It is in fact a total contradiction to what the British brand has accustomed us to. We are obviously talking about small, sporty and extremely light cars.
In fact, Eletre makes its debut with a huge body and with a curb weight, which is said to exceed 2.2 tons. We still have to wait for the detailed specs, but that’s the appeal of electric SUVs with big batteries, that is, the massive size.
Lotus Eletre, 600 km of autonomy and super fast recharge
The news with respect to Eletre are not many, but for sure you can count on more than 100 kWh of capacity, that they should allow about 600 km on a single charge. The charging process itself should be extremely short, thanks to the 800-volt electrical system and the maximum supported power of 350 kW.
At the moment Lotus is talking about one version capable of releasing 600 hp, which offers more than decent performance: acceleration from 0-100 km / h in 3 seconds and top speed 260 km / h. The rumors, however, also speak of plans to launch a more powerful model with almost 750 hp in the future.
If Eletre will be fast on the straights to better tackle the curves Lotus has done everything to optimize the handling of the car. In fact, an air suspension with active stabilizers and a torsional rear axle is offered as standard.
All this is hidden under a very aesthetic but not very original body. The front is reminiscent of the Emira model, and the light strip connecting the rear fenders can certainly please. However, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve seen it somewhere before. The partnership with Sant’Agata Bolognese (Lamborghini headquarters) is absolutely justified.
The interior is almost entirely finished with cozy Alcantara and equipped with a series of screens, the largest of which has a diagonal of 15.1 inches and is centrally positioned. Lotus also boasts the possibility of wireless system updates and highly developed autonomous driving capabilities.
On board there are four single seats, many storage compartments and apparently more than enough space. Land first deliveries are scheduled for 2023. The prices for now remain unknown, although it can be assumed that, regardless of the amounts, the car will certainly not suffer from disinterest.