Lotus Electric SUV Is a Lean, Mean, China-Made Driving Machine
The Eletre may be a major pivot from the British heritage brand’s sports-car roots, but it still goes zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat.
The Lotus Eletre is the British brand’s first SUV.
Source: Lotus
British carmaker Lotus’s bid to move from bit player in the racy roadster market to mass relevancy rests on a 600-horsepower electric SUV. China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., which in 2017 purchased a majority stake in the heritage brand, revealed the Lotus Eletre on Tuesday evening in London, where it was driven onstage by Formula 1 champion Jenson Button.
The Eletre is a key part of Geely’s pitch to pivot Lotus to “lifestyle” vehicles beyond its sharp-handling, track-tuned sports cars, such as the lightweight, relatively affordable Elan and Exige. The SUV, which will be built at a new factory in Wuhan, China, is the first of a range of new Lotus EVs planned for the next four years, including a sedan in 2023, a smaller SUV in 2025, and an electric sports car in 2026.