Lotus Eletre UK Delivery Delays

[RichEV]

Regarding delivery delays - at my test drive on Saturday I was told that there is an (extra?) delay on cars which were ordered in Natron Red. That maybe explains why my car was bumped to Q1 '24 quite soon after I confirmed the order.
If this is true it's frustrating that Lotus didn't just tell us and permit a colour change (I quite like the green now I have seen it!)

 

[jimbobjoe]

My order now has a VIN, and just done the checkout process.

Hopefully that means the car isn't too far off now.

[Richardbz]

i had the,email in June saying my delivery will be in Oct now in Oct no signs of anything 

[aquiss]

17 hours ago, jimbobjoe said:

My order now has a VIN, and just done the checkout process.

Hopefully that means the car isn't too far off now.

I've just had the email too and the VIN details. Does this mean the car is in the UK and close to our handovers?

[jimbobjoe]

I suspect this is the case, but I have no information to go on.

 

[aquiss]

I suspect we might be sharing the same boat. I've been told today, my car in due at docks on October 10th, hence the email. Expected client handover 2-3 later (depending if a UK required software change is needed since being at sea)

[aquiss]

Gave Lotus a call this morning, as I completed the checkout/financials etc. Just wanted to get a sense of where things are, especially as I need to get my house in order (Insurance, Private Reg plate etc).....looks like my car is still on the water....oh soddy sod sod 😂

If only I knew which transport ship it was coming on for tracking lol

What they said this morning, is that any cars going out to customers presently, have been here a few weeks. What they presently don't know, is any cars arriving from this point, what timeframe it's going to take before releasing into customer hands. They hope a couple of weeks, put could be longer.

[RichEV]

I'm sure others have noticed but Natron Red is now officially cancelled (it is no longer on the configurator).

I have been told that my options are to choose an already built stock car (cancelled orders?) or to cancel my order and re-reorder (ETA Q2 2024). I have been offered several vehicles close to my original spec but sadly no Galloway Green available.

This is not really the premium experience I was expecting.

 

[aquiss]

4 minutes ago, RichEV said:

I'm sure others have noticed but Natron Red is now officially cancelled (it is no longer on the configurator).

I personally had not, but that seems odd.

Anyone in the know?

[RichEV]

I was told by the dealer that there was a statement from Lotus on Friday(?) saying that the Natron Red 17 layer paint finish was taking too many factory hours and would be discontinued immediately. It wasn't clear whether they had managed to make any for the UK market.

 

[aquiss]

Interesting. Red has always been a odd colour for other brands in the past, so I wonder if they have also hit similar problems. My brain recall on this is not great, but due to water based paints, it's a problem. Either way I've not seen a statement, press or otherwise....maybe just dealer eyes only.

Hopefully they may replace with a different option, maybe something from other Lotus lines, some blues for instance.

[aquiss]

8 hours ago, RichEV said:

I'm sure others have noticed but Natron Red is now officially cancelled (it is no longer on the configurator).

I've spoken to a couple of contacts that I've made at Lotus and can confirm the Red has been pulled "for now". They are having problems with the final finish of the paint, with a look of bubbles on the surface across the final end result...note "Not actual bubbles, but an odd effect that looks wrong"

There is talk of introducing some further colours, that were planned for 2024 year models to maybe be brought forward.

[jimbobjoe]

And they now appear to have dropped the wheel and dent insurance options off my order.

 

Couldn't make it up....

[aquiss]

Well their phones are closed I believe at 5.00pm, so I guess that's another day of no movement.

[DarrylV8]

49 minutes ago, jimbobjoe said:

And they now appear to have dropped the wheel and dent insurance options off my order.

 

Couldn't make it up....

 

47 minutes ago, aquiss said:

Well their phones are closed I believe at 5.00pm, so I guess that's another day of no movement.

Not good at all