The Lotus Eletre R is pretty quick then

[RingoDingo]

Interesting. Not the sort of thing you tend to hear about with electric cars having less to go wrong and all that. However they still have suspension, steering etc. and all of the electronic tech bits are not cheap. And I expect that Porsche bits will be more than Tesla bits. I can't imagine owning a Taycan without an extended warranty.

I guess the positive note is that he isn't have powertrain or battery issues...

 

[j.w.s]

Carwow:

Whilst it's an SUV, if I needed the space it would probably be this over a model x.

The performance is very close to a Turbo S Taycan and it wouldn't surprise me if it was a little quicker if you take the launch out of it. Impressive stuff.

Based only on looks and the spec sheet, I would want one... if I wanted an SUV, which I defiitely do not. Fingers crossed that the actual product lives up to the promise, because that's a good looking car.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

We have officially entered the land of the absurd. An SUV that runs a sub 11 second quarter mile?? While being '...all over the place...' with the steering...

 

[Deleted member 6348]

I couldn’t care less about a Geely EV SUV, made in China, wearing a Lotus badge. With the Eletre, the Lotus badge now means basically nothing.

If I wanted an EV SUV, I’d get the Macan which will have far better build quality and importantly, quality control.

 

[simcity]

Checked one out today at Fully Charged Live. Must say its a definite contender to replace the ageing Model X...

 

[simcity]

Moment of weakness, I've gone and put down a deposit on an Eletre R in Galloway Green as my model X replacement ?

 

[Gnasher]

I saw this too yesterday and while it has some nice touches I’d wait for the Macan EV.. i think it will be in the same price bracket and so be a better option. I also don’t want a first gen Lotus car given their horrendous reliability…. Maybe Frank has a story or too on the Lotus F1 team as a comparison !

 

[f1eng]

I saw this too yesterday and while it has some nice touches I’d wait for the Macan EV.. i think it will be in the same price bracket and so be a better option. I also don’t want a first gen Lotus car given their horrendous reliability…. Maybe Frank has a story or too on the Lotus F1 team as a comparison !

Brand means nothing to me since over time the people change and everything engineering is about people , not brand.

I know there are brand fans who like to think the ethos of a company is independant and maintained but this is at complete variance with my experience.

Lotus was sucessful in F1 when it was run by Colin Chapman and his biggest talent was getting big sponsorship - they had by far the biggest budget.
I got to know him fairly well in the short time I knew him since we both sat on the same FIA committee as FOCA representatives so had briefings and travelled together.
A very clever and competitive man whose interest in engineering was only exceeded by his push to make a lot of money.

Once he had gone it went into decline - holding on with successful BS, journalists genuinely believed their story that they had the best car in 1986 held back by the Renault engine , and that has gone down in history whereas the facts were very different.
By the time I went to work there all the engineering data had been sold and no longer available. the wind tunnel contract run out and replaced by one with a company that hadn't finished theirs yet etc, and the budget was no longer the biggest, hopeless.

Lotus Cars under Chapman had a reputation for great but unreliable cars - my experience was that the Elan was a much better car than the Porsche 911 in every way but build quality, for example. Thankfully my mate's, built from a kit, was completely reliable.

Lotus Cars has gone through multiple owners since, all having bought the company for the name and all running it nothing like Colin did.

The only thing Lotus about the Eletre is the badge and a bit of handling work done, probably, by people who weren't born when Colin died.

OTOH it will probably be well made and reliable and looks quite nice (for a SUV) even though the key design features of a Chapman conceived car are entirely missing

I feel the same about all car companies, including Porsche. What is there today is nothing like the roots IMO.

 

[Dee]

I do like the interior, very very nice indeed.
But a Lotus SUV? WTF? ?
I guess every single brand just wants to jump onto the EV wagon...

I do understand it though.
You have to have volume models to make money (or exclusive and expensive low production volume).
And SUVs are popular.
Maybe we'll see EV sportscars pretty soon for that matter but it's getting money first cuz building sportscars in a niche (EV) market is very expensive...
Let's hope Porsche (or Lotus) can start building EV sportscars pretty soon.
MG is doing just that, very clever and fast thinking imho.
Although it's Chinese...

 

[Gnasher]

Brand means nothing to me since over time the people change and everything engineering is about people , not brand.

I know there are brand fans who like to think the ethos of a company is independant and maintained but this is at complete variance with my experience.

Lotus was sucessful in F1 when it was run by Colin Chapman and his biggest talent was getting big sponsorship - they had by far the biggest budget.
I got to know him fairly well in the short time I knew him since we both sat on the same FIA committee as FOCA representatives so had briefings and travelled together.
A very clever and competitive man whose interest in engineering was only exceeded by his push to make a lot of money.

Once he had gone it went into decline - holding on with successful BS, journalists genuinely believed their story that they had the best car in 1986 held back by the Renault engine , and that has gone down in history whereas the facts were very different.
By the time I went to work there all the engineering data had been sold and no longer available. the wind tunnel contract run out and replaced by one with a company that hadn't finished theirs yet etc, and the budget was no longer the biggest, hopeless.

Lotus Cars under Chapman had a reputation for great but unreliable cars - my experience was that the Elan was a much better car than the Porsche 911 in every way but build quality, for example. Thankfully my mate's, built from a kit, was completely reliable.

Lotus Cars has gone through multiple owners since, all having bought the company for the name and all running it nothing like Colin did.

The only thing Lotus about the Eletre is the badge and a bit of handling work done, probably, by people who weren't born when Colin died.

OTOH it will probably be well made and reliable and looks quite nice (for a SUV) even though the key design features of a Chapman conceived car are entirely missing

I feel the same about all car companies, including Porsche. What is there today is nothing like the roots IMO.

Great story Frank… it’s sad Chapman got involved in the DeLorean scandal that tarnished his legacy.

Totally agree and i think Ferrari is another that have become far too commercial and not enough attention to detail that makes ownership special.

 

[f1eng]

it’s sad Chapman got involved in the DeLorean scandal that tarnished his legacy.

Having travelled to Paris with Colin and Bernie Ecclestone for meetings I was not surprised by the de Lorean thing, listening to them discuss it he was, by then, probably far more interested in getting rich and avoiding tax than he was in cars. Sad but IME the way it was.
Of course I didn’t know him in the 1960s.

 

[Gnasher]

Having travelled to Paris with Colin and Bernie Ecclestone for meetings I was not surprised by the de Lorean thing, listening to them discuss it he was, by then, probably far more interested in getting rich and avoiding tax than he was in cars. Sad but IME the way it was.
Of course I didn’t know him in the 1960s.

Some say he faked his death !

 

[simcity]

If I wanted an EV SUV, I’d get the Macan which will have far better build quality and importantly, quality control.

Quality control….Hmmm. Our Taycans aren’t exactly bastions of perfect quality control are they. Be honest with yourself.

 

[f1eng]

Some say he faked his death !

They do indeed

 

[f1eng]

Quality control….Hmmm. Our Taycans aren’t exactly bastions of perfect quality control are they. Be honest with yourself.

This is very true.
If you want the best quality control it is Toyota or Honda IME!

We have owned at least one Toyota since the mid 1980s and whilst some have been better to drive than others they have all been reliable.