CARS OF THE WORLD

Lotus Eletre 2023.

Lotus Eletre crossover: less than 3 seconds to a «hundred», 600 km on a single charge and Chinese assembly.

The British company Lotus Cars has presented its first ever mass-produced crossover called the Eletre.

It is equipped with a twin-engine electric propulsion system with more than 600 hp and lidars «around the circle», which will provide confident and safe autonomous driving. It is expected to hit the market in 2023.

Lotus Cars has been dreaming of a crossover since 2006, when the APX concept was presented, but it never went into production, and then the SUV concept was revised several times, until, finally, the Chinese holding Geely (which has a controlling stake in Lotus since 2017) has allocated enough money to develop a real car, which premiered on March 29.

Recall that Geely wants to make a Lotus company on the scale of Porsche, that is large enough and profitable (Porsche last year sold more than 300 thousand cars and received 4 billion euros in net profit), while the main bet is on electric cars, and the last gasoline model in the history of the British brand was medium-engine sports car Emira.

Four new models will be added to the electric range by 2026 to complete the flagship electric hypercar Evija.

The power structure of the Eletre body is made of steel and aluminum, the painted exterior panels are aluminum, the black ones are carbon fiber.

The front end design of the Lotus Eletre slightly reminds models of another subsidiary brand Geely — Lynk & Co, the stern profile quoted Lexus RX, and recesses and through vents in the body are made in the spirit of modern Ferrari models.

The diamond-shaped elements in the lower section of the front bumper are active air dampers, which break away when extra cooling of the battery, electric motors and brakes is needed.

The volume of the trunk is not specified, but according to the British magazine Autocar there are two, front and rear, with a total capacity of 470 liters.

There are retractable lidars above the windshield and front wheel arches, and another stationary lidar installed aft.

The lidars clearly indicate that the Eletre will receive autopilot not lower than SAE level 3, but so far Lotus has not said when it will be available — at the moment, only adaptive cruise control is announced, and additional functions can be activated via the Internet as they become available.

The role of exterior mirrors perform cameras, pictures from them are displayed on the screens in the door cards. Retractable door handles are equipped with a contour lighting.

Two-engine power plant produces more than 600 hp, acceleration to 100 km/h takes less than 3 seconds, maximum speed — about 260 km/h. The 800-volt battery with a capacity of more than 100 kWh provides about 600 km on a single charge on the WLTP cycle.

With a maximum charging capacity of 350 kW, it can top up the range of 400 km in just 20 minutes.

The Eletre has a base adaptive air suspension and a fully steerable chassis with rear axle steering.

The brakes are carbon-ceramic, and in front there are clearly excessive for a powerful electric car 10-piston calipers. Wheel disks are 23-inch.

Cabin 5- or 4-seater, the pictures show 4-seater version with two separate rear seats, between which is placed a tall organizer with cup holders and a multimedia tablet.

In turn, there are three physical screens on the front fascia, plus a projection screen for the driver.

The central 15.1 touchscreen can be stowed in the front panel when it is not needed, and then there will be only small screens in view.

The top-of-the-line 2,160-watt KEF Reference audio system features 23 speakers.

The Eletre will be produced in China at a new plant in Wuhan with a capacity of 150,000 units per year, along with the Type 133 4-door coupe (expected to debut in 2023) and the Type 134 mid-size crossover (2025).

The Lotus Type 135 electric sports car (2026), based on Lotus’ own E-Sports electric platform, will be made in the UK at the historic Lotus factory in Hethel.

The E-Sports platform will also form the basis of the next-generation French sports car Alpine A110.

Prices and equipment of the Lotus Eletre have not yet been officially announced, Autocar reports that the base version will cost less than 100 thousand pounds sterling, and the first production copies of the Eletre will be shipped to customers in 2023.