Lotus Eletre: The First Ever Lotus SUV

[Nairrk]

The first ever Lotus SUV, codenamed the Type 132, will be called the Lotus Eletre when it is unveiled on Tuesday 29 March. Lotus revealed the name in a social media post a few weeks after leaked patent images from China showed elements of the car’s design a little ahead of time.

We’ve already seen a teaser video for the Lotus Eletre hinting at minor design details, such as carbon inserts on the wheels, grooved brake discs, and flat-topped steering wheel. But the exterior design previewed in the patent drawings suggests that all-electric Eletre will conform to the aggressive design of the Emira sports car and Evija hypercar.

The slim headlights, a full-width rear light bar and angular grille all suggest a sportiness to rival the likes of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Tesla Model Y and Porsche’s new electric Macan, which will make its debut later this year.

We can also see wing mirror cameras, flush-fitting door handles, a split rear spoiler and various ducts which should all help with lowering the Lotus Eletre's drag coefficient, making it more slippery in the air for increased range and performance.

The new Eletre will sit on the Lotus marque’s ‘Premium Architecture’ – one of the firm’s four new platforms designed for wide-ranging electrification.

While the electric SUV might struggle to conform to Colin Chapman’s philosophy of ‘simplify, then add lightness’, there should be some impressive performance available. The Premium Architecture will have wheelbases ranging from 2,998mm to 3,100mm, and batteries 90kWh to 120kWh in capacity are being designed for use within the platform. Lotus says Premium Architecture cars will have motor systems capable of propelling the cars from 0-62mph in under three seconds.

They’ll also be electrified at 800v, like the Porsche/Audi J1 platform underneath the Taycan and e-tron GT. This should result in ultrafast 350kW charging capability.

Lotus is now speaking openly about using its Premium Architecture for “an all-new range of lifestyle vehicles” – expected to be SUVs – that will “catapult Lotus into a new era of higher retail volumes and significant revenues”.

Unlike the brand’s Hethel-built sports cars, the Lotus ‘lifestyle’ models will be built in China, at a new £900m factory in Wuhan.

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[Nairrk]

New Lotus Eletre all-electric SUV marks new era for British firm

The new Lotus Eletre SUV boasts at least 592bhp, while targeting a range of 373 miles on a single charge

Lotus is entering a new era and a new sector of the market with its first-ever SUV, the all-electric Eletre. Retaining the British brand’s naming convention of models starting with an E, the Lotus Eletre has been described as “a momentous point in our history” by the brand’s managing director, Matt Windle.

Based on an all-new 800-volt platform called Electric Premium Architecture, the new model is powered by a battery of more than 100kWh (an exact figure for available energy hasn’t been confirmed) that feeds a pair of electric motors – one on each axle – for a targeted minimum total power output of 592bhp. This will rise for higher-spec, even more performance-focused versions, with Lotus aiming for the fastest Eletres to deliver a 0-62mph time of less than three seconds.

By their very nature, EVs are heavier, and while the Eletre is a departure from Lotus’s traditional models and company founder Colin Chapman’s principles of a low kerbweight, there are plenty of innovations in keeping with the marque’s ethos. Lotus’s approach to reducing mass has still been at the heart of development, and the Eletre “takes the core principles and Lotus DNA from more than 70 years of sports car design and engineering, evolving them into a desirable all-new lifestyle car for the next generation of Lotus customers”.

The three-in-one electric motor system that integrates motor, controller and reducer into one package helps save weight in an EV context, for example. Carbon fibre and aluminium have been used extensively throughout the car’s construction, too.

Aerodynamics have also played a large part in the car’s engineering, with a reduction in drag helping to boost the Eletre’s targeted range to 373 miles, as well as shaping much of the car’s design. With 350kW rapid-charging capability, the car is capable of adding 248 miles of range in just 20 minutes.

The Eletre’s aerodynamics benefit from cues taken from the Evija hypercar, most notably the rear tunnels – albeit adapted for the requirements of a passenger SUV. Lotus calls this “porosity”, with air being channelled through the car, as well as around, over and under it. This is evident at the front, where a large vent in the bonnet works in conjunction with the active grille, ahead of and behind the front wheels, as well as the tunnels that exit in the rear bumper behind the wheels; these have been inspired by the Evija. There are also vents at the top of the D-pillars that work with the roof-mounted winglets. These channel air down the tailgate towards the active rear spoiler, which sits above a full-width LED light ‘ribbon’ that can change colour to indicate different messages or usage states.

In normal use the strip is red, featuring scrolling indicators at its extremes. It’s animated with a traditional Lotus green and yellow theme on locking and unlocking, while the bar has the potential to scroll from left to right to show the remaining battery charge.When the Eletre’s autonomous driving mode is engaged, the plan is for the LED strip to signify this with a specific colour.

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