First Sight: Eletre kickstarts Lotus lifestyle range
By Guy Bird2022-03-29T20:00:00
Lotus launched its first SUV – the Eletre – to the world on Tuesday 29th March 2022 in an evening event in west London, UK. Luckily, Car Design News had already been invited to a series of previews of the large luxury lifestyle EV and interviewed its key designers. What follows is our first impressions and their thoughts…
The Eletre is the first vehicle within Lotus’s new lifestyle (non-sportscar) all-electric range and will take on the likes of the Porsche Cayenne when the first models roll off a new Chinese production line later this year, for a sub-£100,000 price tag. However, Lotus will beat its German rival to market in offering a full-electric large SUV and no other powertrain types are planned.
Up close – and upfront especially – the Eletre has lots of aero and tech details to explore. Below the strikingly slim front lights on the bonnet and the sharp line that defines its nose, sits a three-dimensional hexagonal structure which stands out for its originality of form and mystery of function.