Going from diminutive sports cars to a posh hyper-SUV was a gamble by Lotus. Has it paid off?
The American state of Kansas has a reasonable amount in common with the English county of Norfolk. Both are predominantly agricultural provinces renowned for their flat horizons, and just as Dorothy famously departed one, so the Lotus Eletre would seem to belong an awfully long way from the other.This is Lotus’s mould-shattering new ‘hyper-SUV’. The car maker used it as the fanfare and exclamation mark for the announcement of its bold new Sino-British, Geely-owned corporate era back in 2022. It manifested the company’s will to grow into new markets, to target new customers and to reinvent itself as a sustainable, global luxury brand.As such, in being utterly at odds with the sports cars that Lotus has spent the past seven decades making, the Eletre served its strategic purpose instantly. Now to find out if it might serve its owner, and driver, quite as well. We have so far driven this car at home and abroad, and compared it on the road in mid-range form with a key rival. It emerged from those liaisons having impressed us as a new and interesting electric luxury SUV in its own right.So is this really the fully paid-up member of the “two-second club†that former Lotus CEO Matt Windle promised us two years ago. The Eletre is going up against the Autocar timing gear in range-topping, 906bhp Eletre R form – and if it’s even close to as quick as they claim it is, it will probably be wise to stand well back as it does so.The range at a glanceModelPowerFromEletre604bhp£90,750Eletre S604bhp£105,750Eletre R906bhp£121,250The model line-up has three main tiers: entry-level Eletre, mid-ranking S and range-topping R. All versions are dual-motor cars with the same 108kWh (usable capacity) battery.S models get a wheel and brake upgrade, as well as active aero features and a KEF premium audio system. R models add lightweight carbonfibre body trim, four-wheel steering as standard and an uprated rear motor with a two-speed automatic gearbox. Both S and R can be had with individual rear chairs rather than a three-seat rear bench.
