Lotus unveils its first electric vehicle, the Eletre ‘Hyper-SUV’
The electric revolution is no longer limited to everyday drivers and eco-travelers. Luxury brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche have already begun to expand their lineup with EV variants, while hypercar makers like Lamborghini and Ferrari are expected to have their first electric in the next few years. On Tuesday, British automaker Lotus announced that it also has the EV, 600HP Eletre, which will begin delivery next year in China, Europe and the UK.
Developed under the code name Type 132, Eletre “takes the heart and soul of the revolutionary Arrow performance of the latest Lotus sports car – the Amira – and the all-electric EVIZA hypercar and redefines them as hyper-SUVs,” according to the company’s press release. It also completes several first things, the release continues: “The first five-door production car, the first model outside the sports car segment, the first lifestyle EV, the most ‘connected’ Lotus ever.”
Eletre was developed on Lotus’ 800V Electric Premium Architecture (EPA) platform. It keeps the voltage equal to that of the Audi E-Tron and the Hyundai Ionic 5, meaning that on a 350 kW DC fast charger, drivers can add a range of about 248 miles in a 20-minute charge, according to the company. Lotus did not specify how much larger the battery would be than “the battery capacity is more than 100 kWh” but the company estimates a total range of 373 miles equivalent to the Tesla Model X Long Range Plus. Its front and rear dual motors will output 600 horsepower and produce a top speed of 161 MPH and sub-3 seconds 0-60.
Ben Payne led the development of the Eletre’s exterior design, which features “porous” aerodynamics, with small overhangs at both ends of the platform’s long wheelbase. “The Eletre is a progressive all-electric performance vehicle that embodies emotion, intelligence and prestige, and as the first car in the brand’s lifestyle, sets the standard for what it will pursue,” he said. “We have taken the iconic design language of the Lotus sports car and successfully developed it into an elegant and exotic hyper-SUV.”
The interior will offer either a traditional two-bucket-and-one-bench layout or an optional four individual seats, front and rear, under a fixed panoramic sunroof. With “durable man-made microfibers at the primary touchpoints and advanced wool-blended fabric on the seat”, the physical choices for the cabin reflect Lotus’ net-zero goals, while the hard parts are made from small pieces of carbon fiber. Recycling is done from the edges of the weave instead of making it special.
These two ribbons feature a 15.1-inch OLED touchscreen infotainment system that folds when not in use. Most cabin controls are digital and can be accessed via a touchscreen or voice interface, but Lotus considered important enough to guarantee that certain functions are mirrored in physical knobs and switches so that drivers do not have to dig through the submenu to turn on the windshield. Viper boasts that even on those digital controls, Lotus boasts that “users can access 95 percent of the car’s functionality with three touches of the main screen.”
These two ribbons feature a 15.1-inch OLED touchscreen infotainment system that folds when not in use. Most cabin controls are digital and can be accessed via a touchscreen or voice interface, but Lotus considered important enough to guarantee that certain functions are mirrored in physical knobs and switches so that drivers do not have to dig through the submenu to turn on the windshield. Viper boasts that even on those digital controls, Lotus boasts that “users can access 95 percent of the car’s functionality with three touches of the main screen.”
The Eletre is the first vehicle to be launched with the LIDAR array. The unit used as a complement to the Driver Assist system pops up at the top of the windscreen, at the top of the rear glass, and at the front wheel arches – like the headlights in the 1990 MX-5 – retreat when in use and then finished to maintain aerodynamics. .
“As we move into a more autonomous age, ADAS technologies such as LIDAR sensors and cameras will become more common on new cars, and having the world’s first deployed LIDAR system on Eletre is a sign of the technology vision we have for Lotus,” said Maximilian Swajj, Vice President of Lotus Technology and Managing Director of LTIC. . “This car has the technology for today and tomorrow, as it has been developed to accept OTA updates as standard.”
