Lotus Eletre

[awharton]

Just had the following from Lotus UK

It’s not long until you take grip of the steering wheel. And feel for yourself the craft that goes into engineering a Lotus. Carved to precision. At one with the road. You’ll feel at home, wherever you are.
 
We’re planning to handover your Eletre in October 2023.
 
We’ll be in touch closer to the time to:
•    arrange your handover
•    tell you all about your insurance and finance options
 

[jimbobjoe]

Can I ask when you got your confirmed order in?

I haven't heard anything from them yet about potential delivery dates, order was confirmed 8th Feb

[ramjet]

So tell me again why EVs are going to be so beneficial?

[awharton]

On 03/06/2023 at 13:28, jimbobjoe said:

Can I ask when you got your confirmed order in?

I haven't heard anything from them yet about potential delivery dates, order was confirmed 8th Feb

Placed my initial deposit in March 2022. Confirmed my order on 3rd Feb 2023. 

[jimbobjoe]

Thanks for that.

Hopefully I should get some details from Lotus quite soon then.

[Footie]

On 29/04/2015 at 12:11, Loose Cannon said:

Not sure how Lotus ideals fit in with an SUV concept, I always thought their design philosophy sat better with a city/commuter car type, but is there any money to be made with them? Time will tell, more cash can only be good as long as the sportscars benefit.

I think history is a good indicator and for Porsche the Cayenne was their brand saviour, despite the masses of Porsche owners being up in arms that their beloved brand was bring out such a machine. 
 

Do I see this Eletre doing the same for Lotus, hell yeah and I’m willing to bet it will be their biggest seller. The real question is their switch as a brand to only producing Electric cars in the future, I know other brands are committed to do the same but they will continue with ICE right up to the end so hedging their bets.

I am due to see the Eletre next week for the first but eveything I am seeing from the reviews suggest to me that in the near future Lotus will be upping the price because for the spec and quality on offer it’s well ahead of the competition.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Footie

[awharton]

On 03/06/2023 at 09:51, awharton said:

Just had the following from Lotus UK

It’s not long until you take grip of the steering wheel. And feel for yourself the craft that goes into engineering a Lotus. Carved to precision. At one with the road. You’ll feel at home, wherever you are.
 
We’re planning to handover your Eletre in October 2023.
 
We’ll be in touch closer to the time to:
•    arrange your handover
•    tell you all about your insurance and finance options
 

Just an update on this.  Had a call from Lotus confirming delivery would in September or October. Reason for the delay on my order (was originally due in July / August) is that my order is for the R version and that the lower models have been selected to do the Euro NCAP ratings.  The S and S+ models are apparantly already on their way to the UK for this to be done in August.  Models will be available at dealers from mid August.  

[Bibs]

That's not too long to wait and the R is going to be ridiculously fast for what it is!

[JB]

Trust me when I say, the S models are very very good 😉 R will be bonkers on another level and I can see Lotus needing to offer people driving courses as how many people have experienced 0-62mph in sub 3 seconds!!??

R versions are behind the base and S models by approx 3 months, cars due July (so we are told) If you ordered with the cameras it will be later due to the camera production. Oh and they are s***loads of money if some herbert knocks it off!!

Quality is exceptional and those with an order in, if you saw the 'Roadshow' car the finished model is much much better! Lots of little nods to Mr Chapman all over the place which is nice.

[exeterjeep]

1 hour ago, JB said:

If you ordered with the cameras it will be later due to the camera production. Oh and they are s***loads of money if some herbert knocks it off!!

seen them on lorries - but these are out of likely harm from the average herbert. Also I think they look stupid and of course the simple ones one can almost get mirror glass from Halfords to repair.

On topic..... Wonder if there will be an Eletre at Hendy Thruxton this weekend..

[JB]

16 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

On topic..... Wonder if there will be an Eletre at Hendy Thruxton this weekend..

Very unlikely, but you never know, a finished car is doing the rounds. Sadly a clash with another event means can't get down to Thruxton this time but maybe another time.

[exeterjeep]

Was out yesterday and caught up one of these, became a bit excited then saw it was a Volvo... Think it was the roof winglets and the shape across the back, then the letters on the back did not say LOTUS but VOLVO. 

[Bibs]

Full Press Release...

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/lotus-eletre-technology-performance-and-luxury-in-a-spacious-and-practical-pure-electric-hyper-suv/

[Sport220]

5 hours ago, Bibs said:

Full Press Release...

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/lotus-eletre-technology-performance-and-luxury-in-a-spacious-and-practical-pure-electric-hyper-suv/

“From 2,490 kg”. Only 500 kg more than the target weight reported last year then. Top job.

 

[electro_boy]

Initial reactions are, I'm not happy to hear they exceeded the weight target.  But ... any idea what other comparable cars weight?   2500kg sounds like a lot but if its less than comparable competitors then I can forgive them.

[MPx]

Well that's almost exactly the same as my SVAD Rangie so a bit disappointing really, but with a few more horses will still be fun no doubt...

[jimbobjoe]

On 27/06/2023 at 18:00, electro_boy said:

Initial reactions are, I'm not happy to hear they exceeded the weight target.  But ... any idea what other comparable cars weight?   2500kg sounds like a lot but if its less than comparable competitors then I can forgive them.

Audi SQ8 e-tron = 2650kg

BMW i7 = 2715kg

Merc EQS SUV = 2805kg

[Sport220]

BMW iX M60 weighs 2585 kg

That’s an homologated DIN figure.

610 hp so similar to Eletre / Eletre S

Tesla Model X dual motor weighs 2340 kg

Tesla Model X Plaid 2464 kg

So if you want a really fast, “lightweight” electric SUV, you buy a… Tesla?

Also, seeing as Lotus are quoting “from ….”weights, very curious to see what it’ll actually weigh if someone puts one on the scales as evo did with MC20.

[electro_boy]

Thanks for the info folks.   To me it's a little disappointing that the weight is not closer to the target weight.

[DarrylV8]

Looking forward to taking our three grandsons out at the same time, all of us in a Lotus 

[exeterjeep]

An update posted on FB, from an anonymous author. around an hour ago. At least things are progressing. ..

Off-the-record message:

* There is a capacity of shipping 600 cars per week to EU. 2 shipments per week.

* The problem with building R’s has been resolved. Initially there was a problem with supply of dualmotors.

* There seems to be a problem in producing enough base-models. So S’s and R’s have been prioritized. When ordering base now delivery won’t be this year. Ordering R delivery this year is still possible. Don’t know what the problem with Base-model is (Brake/ Suspension supply?)

* They tried to OTA the cars when they were on the route to EU. That didn’t work. Something to do with Mr. Faraday

* All cars that are on route now or have arrived need software updates. This takes roughly 3 hours per car. Even cars that are in production now or scheduled for production seem to need OTA software-updates.

* All of the above is why in EU deliveries will roughly be a month or 2 later than expected in April/May. A few cars will be handed over somewhere this month if your lucky. Then it’ll slowly ramp up to probably mid-September. So get ready for some more delays even if you have a handover-month scheduled. Could be 2-4 weeks later.

* Dealer-cars still have to arrive in most cases. So that’s why there haven’t been any test drives, as far as I know. Probably also why there aren’t any reviews out there. No cars available for review at this moment in time.

[exeterjeep]

Been a video tour of the Eletre factory posted on FB.

 

[Bibs]

It's a big place! 

[Footie]

On 29/06/2023 at 09:38, jimbobjoe said:

Audi SQ8 e-tron = 2650kg

BMW i7 = 2715kg

Merc EQS SUV = 2805kg

I seen someone actually put one of the press Electre S cars on the scales and it was 2720KGs with a 50/50 weigh distribution but that was a car fully loaded with all goodies and the 48volt suspension and rear wheel steer which all will account for probably 100Kgs at least.

So not a light car but when you take into account the size of its battery its probably among the lightest.. all things considered.

[JB]

To those who are 'disappointed' about the weight!!! Having driven the Eletre and its main competitors the BMW, Audi, Porsche and poorly built rather tacky Elon Musk-mobile, I can assure you that it does not feel like 2.5 tons. It corners better than the others for starters. The comment of the Tesla is lighter blah blah blah, you seen the vid with carwow trying to stop one?? Borderline bloody dangerous..............no thanks.

When you consider the new M2 is a ton.............say that slowly, (1000 bags of sugar, a cubic metre of water)......................a ton heavier than an S1 elise or 3 x a caterham yet no one seems to mind about that🤪