The Eletre is luxury car maker Lotus’ first all-electric hyper-SUV and getting to test drive this stunning new vehicle at Bell & Colvill in West Horsley was pure pleasure from start to finish.
The Eletre delivers class-leading ride and handling, steering and aero performance – all areas of automotive design and engineering where Lotus has pioneered and dominated throughout its 75-year history, on both its road cars and race cars.
It comes in 3 models; the standard Eletre (from £89,500) the S version (from £104,000) with more as standard; soft door close, dark rear windows, sportier wheels and a spoiler or you can choose the R version (starting from £120,000) which is the fastest, doing 0-60mph in a staggering 2.9 seconds with an impressive, longlist of added mod-cons.
The standard – which we got to test drive – was still super impressive, doing 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. You could literally feel the surge and power on acceleration. Plus, the Eletre is fast, with a top speed of 160mph in all 3 of its models.
The Eletre blends the core DNA of Lotus models Emira and Evija, reinterpreting them as a hyper-SUV with advanced suspension and chassis. As well as having full electric seats, an electric steering column there are massage seating options too. The head up display makes the vehicle very safe too, ensuring the driver doesn’t have to look down at the dashboard controls. It is not intrusive either as you can see from the image below on the front windscreen.
(show picture of LED display on the road)
Eletre is also future-proofed for Level 4 autonomous driving capability. There is an adaptive cruise control to set to certain speed limits, this feature ensures discipline, keeps safety and prevents any unwanted speeding fines and accidents.
With the add-on Park Assist Package you can also let your Eletre park itself! It finds a parking space and parks perfectly for you. If you have the app you can even use from outside the car. There is also pre-collision braking with all the Eletre models. It spots if you are about to have a collision and the car brakes automatically to prevent this. Plus, there is a handy rear braking assistance too – if you miss a car driving or pedestrian walking behind your vehicle, it prevents the accident by automatically breaking for you.
Carl Wallis, Lotus Sales Expert from Bell & Colvill – Lotus Surrey, added: “You can easily see how we are going to eventually be reverting into a fully autonomous driving experience, given the futuristic functionality of the Eletre.”
‘Range anxiety’ (which was considered a problem associated with consumers purchasing electric vehicles a few years ago) is not a problem with the Eletre. The vehicle has a 112kWh battery, storing a maximum of 373 miles (depending on spec) when fully charged. And their rapid charging is a further plus point, from 10-80% in only 20 minutes, and up to 74 miles of range in just 5 minutes.
Plus, a simple Google search shows there are now 59,000 electric charge points in the UK now across 32,000 locations. This is compared to the 8,300 petrol stations. Running out of charge whilst driving your electric vehicle is not a problem in 2024.
The Eletre has an interior like no Lotus before it. The luxurious, spacious cabin effortlessly fuses a performance-orientated, technical design with world-class infotainment and connectivity.
The sound system is out of this world too! As standard the Eletre and R variant comes equipped with the KEF Premium audio, which boasts 1380 watts of power through 15 speakers, providing a unique listening experience.
Should you select the S variant, you will benefit from a KEF Reference audio system, which is enhanced further to 2160 watts of power through 23 speakers (cost option on Eletre and R).
There is also a stunning, intelligent panoramic roof design. In Winter, this retains the internal temperature of the car to extend the range of the battery, to its maximum. It flips in Summer so the heat can be kept out and the double-glazed roof glass goes opaque during use. Nice touch. There is also an option to have up to 6 people saved on the Eletre’s driver profile. It remembers individual drivers and alters the mirror, steering, seat setting and head up display positioning automatically.
To test drive the Lotus Eletre get in touch with Bell & Colvill – Lotus Surrey – who are also the main dealers for Subaru, Morgan and McLaren Aftersales – today:
Call: 01483 281000
Email: sales@bellandcolvill.com
Website: www.bellandcolvill.com
