Up close and personal with the Lotus Eletre.
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- Опубликовано: 23 сен 2024
- The new era for Lotus really begins as the first customer Eletres are being delivered . Lotus are boldly going where no Lotus has gone before with the Eletre. But is it still a Lotus?
I think one of the key differences between Lotus of old and Geely Lotus is that one is simply looking to build market lead products that sell while the other built driving enthusiast lead products.
I would hazard a guess that the holy grail is to build somewhere in between, but in reality the car needs to sell in numbers to generate profit and so they will, inevitably, defer to design ethos’s and characteristics that appeal to non driving enthusiasts and further to that, not underestimating how many people see cars as purely a utility means of getting from A-B with their wealth being the determine factor on how nicely they do that journey.
These Lotus EVs are high end, high profit units sold on the back of the Lotus cache.
Specially with SUVs, as you said nobody buys them to drive well; that’s just a bonus!
Thank you for the humorous and interesting review! I've talked to the head of Lotus America, and he was very positive about his driving experience with this SUV. It's certainly beautiful and very luxurious, but at this price point, I think it will not sell well.
Thanks Doc, they are all saying it drives well but that’s ‘for an SUV’ of course. I hope to drive one soon to find out for myself but I haven’t heard about any revolutionary new chassis tech that would make it significantly different to any other electric SUV. Seems to be selling better than expected in the UK already. Seems expensive to me but others see it as half the price of a DBX or Urus and much more modern.
The warning was funny but at the same time warranted xD
Most impressive new Lotus. 🎉🎉🎉
oh, loooots of weight saving on that dash board. About three tonnes of it
The nicest SUV in the world (the green one🤩) I must confess. Good job of the designers, but I will be à future customer. The Emeya design looks impressive & is more my cup of tea.
The Emira keeps on going the be very last Lotus for me even if she was al ready geelyesque.
Chapman's Lotus is dead. Lotus is now just a brand name for a Chinese EV manufacturer.
Yup. Some would argue that Chapman’s Lotus would also be dead without Geely’s billions. Sadly not enough people out there who understand and appreciate the value of lightweight engineering. Current BMW M cars are the heaviest ever and also the best selling.
Test driving one next week..
I’d be interested to know what you think. Very nice and very fast electric SUV, if that’s what you’re after I don’t think it will disappoint.
I agree her comments are offensive , its "her" opinion but a very miss informed one
I'm so annoyed by inserted Hulk clip which made it hard to hear what she's saying
Lotus RAGE!!
ruclips.net/user/shortsEY1yF6kinnU?feature=share
Probably just as well you didn’t hear, it’s very offensive for any true Lotus fan!
Geely is probably of all the Chinese automotive groups the most successful. Even the mindset they have is purely European. They just might get to buy Aston aswell
On one level, just another hideous, bloated, aggressively over-designed SUV, joining the morass of similar. But as you allude, on another, it is a betrayal of everything Lotus stood for. We should probably be preparing for the 2 tonne Caterham / Atom SUVs. Loved the Hulk sequence! :)
After 70 years of ‘simplify and add lightness’ all of a sudden ‘light isn’t right anymore’. Yet it seems the further Lotus stray from Chapman’s philosophy the more they sell. Shows how little people care about what Lotus used to stand for, but question is, what do Lotus stand for now?
@@DrPittenstein It's a sad story ... for some reason I can't fathom, enormous SUVs seem to be like catnip and before long, it seems there'll be little else. With Geely in the driving seat, Lotus stand for whatever makes £££. SUVs make £££. So ... yeah.
Who is the female from Autocar? I need to do more research before I absolutely destroy her journalistic ability.
Auto Express but don’t know her name. I think she did a good job of destroying her credibility on her own!
Saw one drive past in regents park last week...first time in 'real life'....looked very very long....
Yes very long. Made the Emira look like an Elise. Benefit is acres of rear leg room. Great car ‘for the passengers’!
😂😂😂Jaguar I-Pace 2.0
Nihao geely!
What a way to loose £60k by driving it of the forecourt. Just don’t get it. Strange that EV is being pushed down out throat yet very few and I mean very few will take them as second hand trade ins.
One guy online is claiming to have spec’d his to nearly £170k!
I understand Lotus have been owned by a Chinese company since around 2017, but did they really have to make this car look so Chinese? Because this car will not sell well in Europe and North America.
We will soon see how it sells but I think the response has been surprisingly good from the UK already. I see it as very expensive for a Chinese SUV but many buyers see it as very good value compared an Aston DBX. Many are bought as company cars and people just don’t buy saloons anymore. Makes me wonder why they are bothering with the Emeya saloon?
@@DrPittenstein Doesn't the Aston have a V12 though? Can't really compare this to a DBX, leagues apart.
@@johnmitchell2269 no, Merc V8. Also double the price.
Lotus needs the resources and money to build a good sports car and there is no alternative to reaping that money with future proof SUV.
Today too many Lotus owners buy a Range Rover. Now they have a choice.
I don’t think their focus is on building sports cars anymore. Geely humour Hethel with their token sports car but Mr Feng the Chinese supreme leader spoke at the 70th Anniversary event in 2018 and ‘autonomous driving’ was mentioned a lot along with ‘no more fast and furious’!
@@DrPittenstein the sports and supercars are essential to build the prestige for the premium segment. Geely is totally focused on building Porsche 2.0.
@@lotus-jps yes a real shame they haven’t embraced the culture of innovation at Lotus. Given what they achieved on a fraction of the development budget I have always believed that a well-resourced Lotus could surpass Porsche but the ambition now is to catch up and follow their lead.
You must be crazy to buy this instead of a Range Rover. The Rover is class (as long as you go for a nice spec and don't black-out everything), this Eletre thing is a disaster in terms of proportions and styling
Built in China = No buy for me
With all the cheap crap we get from China that was my first reaction too but they have massively upped their game with this car. They had to in order to compete at the level they are pitching it at.
Die hard Lotus owners are basically saying the exact same things Porsche owners said about the Cayenne. Bottom line is cars like the Eletre will be the brands saviour and will allow the brand to continue building 2 seater sports cars but the world is changing and like it or not normal fossil fuel isn’t the future, at the moment it’s electric, it might be hydrogen next or something else but normal petrol is coming to its end.
I’m due to go get a test drive in the Eletre but as a current EV owner I know exactly what to expect from the drivetrain but the experience being a Lotus might be different to what I am use to.
I’d be interested to know what you think of it as an existing EV owner. Still beats me why the Cayenne was successful nor who would really want one but they sold enough to convince Lotus, Aston Martin, Lambo and even Ferrari to make one. If Eletre sells well it won’t necessarily lead to more sports cars. If Geely see their Chinese Lotus making money while the UK Lotus are losing it they will surely just close down the site at Hethel. Fortunately the Emira has done well but the writing is already in the wall for ICE sports cars as you say.
I have owned most performance car, including the Boxster, M cars and the Cayenne. No SUV no matter the brand can truly feel like a sport car but owning a Cayenne you can see feel that DNA in how is drives compared to other SUV and after driving the Eletre I can see some of the Lotus DNA in action too with how it steers and handles compared to other SUVs.
The Eletre is easily the most impressive SUVs I have driven and the fact it’s an EV makes it even more impressive. It’s got Range Rover quality of ride and quietness married to Porsche’s Cayenne dynamics.
It’s a castrated disinfected car future I have absolute zero further interest in. Such a shame. I hope everyone enjoys their 900 bhp suvs on the max 20 mph roads. Probably soon to be electronically limited by state roads in the not so distant future. Enjoy.
Yes and soon these cars ‘for the drivers’ will be doing the driving too. To your point, probably the only way of keeping to the speed limit!