Lotus Eletre

[Vercingetorix]

That was Lucas, not Lotus.
https://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html

Lotus used Lucas.

 

[Dee]

Lotus used Lucas.

Ah ok! ??
Misinterpreted, my bad.
All English cars used Lucas back then, right?
That must have been a rough time, lol.

 

[ThePaddyWan]

I like it overall, but if you removed the badging, no one would know it's a Lotus. Seems like Lotus is really being modernized, for good and bad, by Geely.

The biggest concern I'd have with getting a Lotus vs. say the Macan EV is the dealer network, brand recognition (helps with resale) and ease of maintenance and repairs.

 

[AlexG]

I like it overall, but if you removed the badging, no one would know it's a Lotus. Seems like Lotus is really being modernized, for good and bad, by Geely.

The biggest concern I'd have with getting a Lotus vs. say the Macan EV is the dealer network, brand recognition (helps with resale) and ease of maintenance and repairs.

Shouldn't maintenance be the same as a Volvo, or Polestar? Even if it isn't, you could argue the other side and say it isn't pitched - size, speed, design, etc anywhere near a Macan - it's meant to be a Urus, DBX, etc. competitor. There isn't an EV in that space, maybe the hybrid Purosangue - although that is another level in terms of marque and will cost more (and seems to be out of date on arrival). So I think those are the dealerships / maintenance and repair costs you're comparing with, rather than Porsche. Also, not sure the VW group is a good example of issue free cars anyhow. I had an ID3 as a rental, and it wouldn't even charge half the time, don't even ask about the quality and infotainment.

I also think this is a very natural competitor to a Turbo or Turbo S CT. The fact that it is an "SUV" - what does that even mean - higher riding? - seems to generate a gut reaction without any real substance. How is it actually different from a Turbo CT? It's a similar price, similar size inside and out, similar acceleration, similar (better?) tech and design inside and out, and if it really has Lotus all over the dynamics, that should be as good as well.

The danger in my mind is that it is a Zeekr or Link&Co dressed as a Lotus. They tell us it's not, and is developed from the ground up as a Lotus, and Geely want to make Lotus their Porsche/Lamborghini brand. I'm not holding my breath, but I'd want to give them a chance given what we have seen with the Evija and Emira (on which I have a deposit as well!)

 

[f1eng]

It's a similar price, similar size inside and out, similar acceleration, similar (better?) tech and design inside and out, and if it really has Lotus all over the dynamics, that should be as good as well.

The biggest problem with all SUVs is aerodynamic drag and weight.
EVS are as heavy but can have low overall drag.
Drag is frontal area times drag coefficient so even if they get the drag coefficient down (which they almost never do because the shape is inhenently wrong) the overall efficiency is still always rubbish because of the vast frontal area.

Car companies who just quote a Cd are being deceitful over total drag losses.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Drag is frontal area times drag coefficient so even if they get the drag coefficient down (which they almost never do because the shape is inhenently wrong) the overall efficiency is still always rubbish because of the vast frontal area.

Car companies who just quote a Cd are being deceitful over total drag losses.

Indeed. I don't recall wetted area (or whatever is common usage for automotive aerodynamics) getting mentioned when journalists discuss drag or Cd.
I remember back in the '70s that the Ford Transit was lauded for having a lower Cd than many contemporary cars.

 

[ithinkmac]

I'm very excited for the Eletre. Waiting for local sales to answer a few questions before placing an order.

Full size SUV qualifies for Section 179 write-off for business. With fast depreciation. Will be a huge saving.

Geely makes the Polestars, and everybody thinks the build quality is great on those. So I don't see any reason to think otherwise. China makes great products. It's just a matter of who they're making it for, and customer tolerance for bad output. Most of bad rep MIC products are the cheap knock-offs everybody is buying.

It's the lack of dealership that scares me at this point. As others have said, this being Lotus' 1st EV and SUV, there's a lot of unknowns.

The Macan EV will most likely not make it here till 2024 or 25 at the earliest, with the production issues going on currently @ VAG.

Already have a couple of Model X - don't want another one - and Purosangue is not a BEV. There's not much choice for a E-Segment BEV SUV (the iX might work). I am willing to take my chances. If the local dealers don't mark it up by $50k.

-ThinkMac-

 

[Jhenson29]

It's the lack of dealership that scares me at this point. As others have said, this being Lotus' 1st EV and SUV, there's a lot of unknowns.

I agree. That’s my biggest concern with Lotus as well. Not only the lack of dealerships but the stability of the dealerships, especially due to the low volume. I’ve seen them come and go around me. Although, I will note that at the time that I had one, I did not have any issues with my dealership [that was around at the time, but is no longer].

I wouldn’t be as worried about it for a weekend car, but I would be very hesitant on a DD, which I assume is the Eletre’s target market.

 

[kort]

I

The Macan EV will most likely not make it here till 2024 or 25 at the earliest, with the production issues going on currently @ VAG.



-ThinkMac-

if you are interested in a Macan type EV I have a Jaguar IPace which is superb.

 

[Tsingtao]

if you have an interest in an EV SUV may I suggest that you look at the Jaguar I pace. I recently took delivery and the car is very impressive. the range is just a bit less than a taycan but the interior is IMHO superior, the ride is good and it is plenty fast. the cons are here in the US a limited availability and some say that at DC chargers the charging is slower, I have only charged at a DC twice and was taking a charge at over 100kw.

I concur. The iPace is not a bad ride at all, and having driven an ICE Macan this week as a loaner, well, let's just say Porsche has some work to do. I had never driven a Macan before and was shocked by what a crude little car it was! In fairness, it handled great, and I really liked the brake feel (much better than my Taycan) but it completely lacked refinement. Even the Bose sound system was total garbage. If the Macan EV is little more than an electrified version of the ICE Macan I drove this week, I would take an iPace any day.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I concur. The iPace is not a bad ride at all, and having driven an ICE Macan this week as a loaner, well, let's just say Porsche has some work to do. I had never driven a Macan before and was shocked by what a crude little car it was! In fairness, it handled great, and I really liked the brake feel (much better than my Taycan) but it completely lacked refinement. Even the Bose sound system was total garbage. If the Macan EV is little more than an electrified version of the ICE Macan I drove this week, I would take an iPace any day.

I am somewhat surprised by this. I had a Macan for nearly 5 years and it was a great car. Not at all crude in my opinion.

 

[BJCanadaMax]

Funnily enough I've just been on the website and registered interest. Stopped short of reserving though. I think it looks fantastic and I'll have to see if they will have car to look at later this year. My 4SCT is on order and not currently due until late Q1 '23 so if the Eletre comes not too long after that then I may cancel and switch but I'd have to see it in person before making that call. Still love the Taycan though so would be tough. This might edge it just based on having a family of 4 to cart around.

I just placed my 2023 order two days ago, like one and a half week after 2023 is available for order. How did you place a 2023 order in March? Anyway, to avoid spamming the board. I think that this is so much like the urus, which i love. But i will pass since i don't think that this is 100% like the urus and for lotus i am more interested in their sports car. I just hate myself for not letting myself look at the Cross Turismo longer to decide if it is really for me. Had so much conflict at the dealership on Thursday.

 

[gusone]

Put a deposit down on one of these earlier in the year. Not sure about all angles when they released it yesterday, but it's growing on me. It's huge.

It's probably the most direct competitor to the Turbo ST I have coming. Thoughts?

https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/eletre/

Looks more like the Lambo I see driving around London Wall.

 

[kort]

I am somewhat surprised by this. I had a Macan for nearly 5 years and it was a great car. Not at all crude in my opinion.

I was given a base macan as a loaner, I was very underwhelmed by the experience. the cabin was nice but there were only vague hints of it's porsche heritage. the Ipace has a better cabin, a better ride and better performance than the base macan that I drove, it's range is similar to the taycan and it's tech is superior. the one drawback is that the DC charger is slow when compared to the taycan's, it is similar to using a v2 tesla supercharger.

 

[Tsingtao]

I am somewhat surprised by this. I had a Macan for nearly 5 years and it was a great car. Not at all crude in my opinion.

Maybe I was a little harsh with the word "crude" but every ICE car I've driven since buying a Taycan has seemed crude/last century. And in fairness, the loaner Porsche gave me is the base Macan 4 cylinder with spring suspension. Literally every expansion joint and minor road imperfection is felt. It is a really harsh ride in comparison to the Taycan. It would be tough to drive this thing on a long road trip. The other thing that bothered me was the noise. It is a 4-cylinder yet Porsche tuned the sound to emulate something else. It is hysterical the way the car gurgles when idling as if there is something really big under the hood, and once underway there is plenty of tire and wind noise going on as well. But it is a really cool looking SUV and if I had to have a gas SUV and/or station wagon, it would probably do the job. I get the fact that it is a sports car first and an SUV second, but new EV SUVs are raising the bar, so Porsche will need to up its refinement game on the Macan EV. I know Porsche can do it, but I'm not sure they can do it and still sell the car in that $70-80K sweet spot.