Lotus opens up orders for its Eletre electric “hyper-SUV”

Iconic British racing and sportscar maker Lotus announced on Monday that its new electric Lotus Eletre hyper-SUV is available for order in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Originally unveiled  in early 2022, the Lotus Eletre supposedly takes the heart and soul of the latest Lotus sports car – the Emira – and the revolutionary aerodynamics of the all-electric Evija hypercar and reinterprets them as a hyper-SUV.

The top-of-the-line Eletre R can accelerate from 0-100km/h in under 3 seconds thanks to max power of 675kW and 905hp and max torque of 985Nm. The base model Eletre and mid-level Eletre S, on the other hand, are still handy off the line, with acceleration of 4.5 seconds thanks to power of 450kW and 603hp and max torque of 710Nm.

The Eletre and Eletre S max their speeds out at 258km/h while the Eletre R pushes that number up to 265km/h.

All three models use a lithium-ion battery with 112kWh capacity and are able to charge from 10-80% on a 350kW DC rapid charger in only 20 minutes. While slower, the 22kW AC wallbox charging time is still a relatively handy 5.8 hours.

There’s a downside to more power in the Eletre R, however, with up to 600 kilometres (WLTP combined) range for both the Eletre and Eletre S, and 490 kilometres for the more powerful Eletre R.

Inside, a central slimline and deployable central touchscreen measures in at 15.1 inches with a HD OLED display that’s only 10mm thick.

The front seat passenger also has their own high-definition touchscreen and a 12.6-inch HD OLED instrument cluster behind the steering wheel is paired with a 29-inch heads-up display with augmented reality to help the driver keep their eyes on the road.

Unsurprisingly, the Eletre is filled with a full suite of advanced driver assistance systems backed by a total of 34 state-of-the-art sensors including four deployable LIDAR, six radar, seven 8MP HD cameras, and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

The price tag for any Lotus isn’t going to come cheap, and that remains the same for the Eletre, starting (in the UK) at £89,500 for the base model and scaling up to £104,500 for the Eletre S and £120,000 for the Eletre R.

The good news for Australians is that we have been promised the Eletre before 2025, and even as early as this year according to some reports. Assuming UK prices are equivalent to what we might see in Australia, expect to pay upwards of $A170,000 for the base model and up to $A230,000 for the Eletre R.