Lotus Eletre Reviews

[jonwat]

Prototype driven

[jonwat]

And Autocar

[TdM]

Reviews read remarkably similarly across the board, down to terminology on emotive/subjective points. Wonder if Chinese marketing departments are as friendly and their government!

[jonwat]

No mention of what it's made of, anyone know for sure?

[exeterjeep]

 

https://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/eletre

says..

The Eletre’s skeleton is an aluminium and steel architecture

[jonwat]

11 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

The Eletre’s skeleton is an aluminium and steel architecture

I was thinking more of the body work rather than the chassis, is it the usual glass fibre or have they resorted to steel or aluminium pressings for mass production. 

[Bibs]

One of the reviews mentioned stamped panels. 

Build quality is high, with consistent gaps between the intricately stamped panels and a beautiful paint finish.

[exeterjeep]

Certainly would not expect glass fibre on a high volume production car which they are aiming for.

Can't be long until demos start getting to UK dealers - May/June?

[Bibs]

 

[jimbobjoe]

On 25/04/2023 at 11:56, exeterjeep said:

Certainly would not expect glass fibre on a high volume production car which they are aiming for.

Can't be long until demos start getting to UK dealers - May/June?

I was told dealer demo cars start arriving in May

[exeterjeep]

There is one Eletre in Hendy Exeter - but just for a couple of days, and it is not being driven Its an R.

@MPx did not know if you were interested in checking it out. No drives yet though.

[MPx]

7 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

 

@MPx did not know if you were interested in checking it out. No drives yet though.

Thanks for the prompt Keith - sadly won’t be able to get there until later next week so I guess it’ll be gone by then? 

[exeterjeep]

They did not know it was turning up (came on a lorry.) think it may be gone Monday /Tuesday. Ian glimpsed it in the showroom. I went in today, it is the R with 2 rear seats rather than the bench. Is RHD though and has the camera mirror option. As we know its big. They have put a short video up on FB.    https://www.facebook.com/HendyPerformanceExeter

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Jalopnik’s review of the, err, CarWow review...

https://jalopnik.com/the-new-lotus-eletre-suv-is-fast-and-functional-we-jus-1850384395

 

[jonwat]

Autocar

[webfoot]

 

[jonwat]

Top Gear & Autoexpress

Edited July 10, 2023 by jonwat

[hedgerley]

CAR

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/lotus/eletre-suv/

And a nice one from a Dutch review with a little tame off-road stuff as well.

https://youtu.be/OCNdppNrq4s

Good to see that so far, according to the reviews, Lotus seems to have nailed it. UK road tests will I am sure reveal more but so far, so good.

[NedaSay]

Reviews coming thick and fast now:

 

[Footie]

Great reviews are starting to come in, this one in particular caught my eye because I follow them 

 

[electro_boy]

Not had time to watch these yet.   Anyone give a quick summary is it good stuff? 🤞🏾

[Sport220]

Was going to wait to have this month's evo delivered but decided to skim through the autocar review, and... surprise surprise

"most importantly, the hardware and software is developed in a new engineering centre in Raunheim (...) And that German origin shows almost as soon as you begin turning a wheel. The Eletre doesn’t feel like an old Lotus at all."

"if you come expecting family DNA, by which I mean overtly communicative steering, tremendous agility and poise and yet a mysteriously pliant ride, you won’t find it."

"The Eletre feels like an EV first and a Lotus not at all."

 

[cdco]

That's a different view from that expressed by Steve Sutcliffe in The Intercooler

" If you sprinkle some of Hethel’s magic dust over the whole lot, what you end up with is a pretty extraordinary vehicle, one that feels and drives like no other SUV I’ve come across, including those from Aston Martin, Lamborghini or Porsche"

And

"The steering is entirely recognisable in its weighting and response off-centre, also in the way it loads up so delicately as you wind lock on. I reckon you could drive this car blindfolded and tell it’s a Lotus purely from the way it steers, assuming you’re familiar with the steering of Elises, Exiges, Evoras and even as far back as the later Esprits. Such is the intricacy of feel on offer."

So whilst not the traditional light is right mantra and he freely admits it's not a Traditional Lotus but a more promising view than that of Autocar

 

 

If you sprinkle some of Hethel’s magic dust over the whole lot, what you end up with is a pretty extraordinary vehicle, one that feels and drives like no other SUV I’ve come across, including those from Aston Martin, Lamborghini

[jimichanga]

But which view is more believable?

[DarrylV8]

A lot of people at Hethel who have driven the Eletre, share same view as Steve Sutcliffe. I know who I believe