LOTUS ELETRE Pure electric 560/650km SUV

Few people may know that the birthplace of racing culture is Britain. The first F1 World Championship was held in 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in East Midlands, England. The 1960s was the golden age for Britain to shine in the F1 World Championship. LOTUS became famous by winning both championships with its Climax 25 and Climax 30 F1 cars. Turning our attention back to 2023, the LOTUS Eletre in front of us has a 5-door SUV shape and a pure electric power system. Can it continue the spirit of those glorious racing cars or classic hand-crafted sports cars?

The design concept of LOTUS Eletre is bold and innovative. The long wheelbase and short front/rear overhangs create an extremely dynamic body posture. At the same time, the short hood design is a continuation of the styling elements of Lotus' mid-engine sports car family, which can give people a sense of lightness and weaken the sense of clumsiness of the SUV model itself.

In the details of the exterior design, you can see a lot of aerodynamic design, which LOTUS calls "porosity" elements. The large number of air guide channels all over the body are not decorative, but are truly connected, which can reduce wind resistance. Together with the segmented spoiler on the top of the rear and the adaptive electric rear wing below, it successfully reduces the drag coefficient to 0.26Cd. Similar design elements can also be seen on the Evija and Emira of the same brand, which shows that this style has gradually become the iconic feature of the LOTUS brand.

The interior of LOTUS Eletre adopts a simple smart cockpit design common in pure electric vehicles. The characteristic is that the materials used are very high-end. For example, the gear shift and temperature control levers on the center console have gone through 15 complex processes and are made of liquid metal material, the first in the automotive industry, and are supplemented by nano-level polishing to create a unique texture.

At the same time, most of the materials used in the car are cooperated with the Kvadrat brand. All accessible parts of the interior are made from artificial microfiber that has an excellent feel and is highly durable. The seats are made of advanced wool blend fabric, which is 50% lighter than traditional leather, which can further reduce the weight of the vehicle body. It is worth mentioning that the above-mentioned materials are all renewable and environmentally friendly materials, which shows Lotus’s determination in environmental protection.

The 15.1-inch floating OLED multimedia touch screen can automatically fold. The world's first UNREAL engine real-time rendering HYPER OS cockpit operating system is preset. Built-in dual Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chips, the operating experience is extremely smooth.

In addition, the entire series comes standard with a 15-speaker KEF Premium audio system with a power of up to 1380W and Uni-QTM and surround sound technology.

In terms of comfort configuration, LOTUS Eletre performs comprehensively. Such as front seat heating/ventilation/massage, rear seat heating/ventilation, steering wheel heating, and dimmable non-openable panoramic sunroof, etc., are all standard. At the same time, as an SUV model of a sports car brand, it also provides Lotus one-piece supercar front seats with 20-way adjustment. And after switching to sports mode, the sides of the seats will be electrically tightened to give front passengers a better sense of wrapping.

LOTUS Eletre offers two power systems. The test car this time is the entry-level S+ version, equipped with dual motors with a total power of 450kW and a peak torque of 710N·m. Although the 0-100km/h acceleration time is not as exaggerated as the 2.95s of the R+ version, the official 0-100km/h time of 4.5s is enough to prove its extraordinary performance. Although it has "violent" power parameters, if the driving mode is in economy or comfort, it is like a pure electric family SUV. The power output is neither rushed nor slow, and very responsive. At this point, if you step on the accelerator pedal more than halfway, its true character will gradually emerge. There is a sense of dissonance in pushing your back silently, but the powerful G value will instantly interrupt your thoughts, and then the dizziness will come as expected.

The hardware configuration of the suspension system is very advanced. Both the front and rear are five-link independent suspensions, which also provide features such as air suspension with adaptive functions, CDC continuously damping adjustable shock absorbers, and active rear-wheel steering systems. With strong hardware support, the driving quality of Lotus ELETRE can be very comfortable. Although the rim size reaches 22 inches and the tire sidewalls are also very thin, they feel smooth when facing small bumps on the road and resolve vibrations in place. At the same time, larger potholes such as speed bumps can also be easily dealt with.

Generally speaking, if the comfort is excellent, there will be some compromises in lateral support. The LOTUS Eletre has indeed achieved both. With its delicate steering, the dynamic performance in corners is quite stable, and the roll is controlled very little, giving the driver sufficient confidence. In addition, the huge body of more than 5 meters and the curb weight of up to 2.6 tons do not have too much impact on the handling, just like its exterior design, which gives people a sense of lightness.

In terms of safety configuration, this test drive model provides a wealth of active/passive safety functions and supports L2-level assisted driving. In addition, it is equipped with dual Orin-X chips, capable of 508 trillion calculations per second, and combined with a dual backup controller architecture, it can ensure driving safety at all times.

LOTUS announced with great fanfare that it has entered the "electrification" track, so the Lotus ELETRE, which is defined as a HYPER SUV, has become the focus. Maybe it can't arouse your driving desire and make your blood rush like a fuel vehicle, but the extreme dizzying acceleration feeling and excellent control ability are facts and cannot be denied. Therefore, I think that riding the electricity and chasing the wind is the most appropriate evaluation of it.