The new Lotus Eletre battery-electric crossover made its official debut this week, and while General Motors has yet to enter the sport EV crossover space, the vehicle serves as a good idea of what we can expect from this segment in the years to come.
Lotus, a British-based sports car manufacturer that is majority-owned and operated by Chinese automaker Geely, describes the Eltre as a “hyper SUV,” thanks to its standard high-performance powertrain. It comes with a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup doling out 600 horsepower, enabling it to hustle from zero to 60 mph in as little as three seconds. The battery capacity is “over 100 kWh,” and provides an estimated driving range of 600 kilometers or 373 miles – although this is based on the rather generous WLTP test cycle. A DC fast charging station would be capable of filling the vehicle’s battery from flat to 400 kilometers of range, or 248 miles, in about 20 minutes.
The Lotus Eletre is built on a new, scalable aluminum and steel platform dubbed the Electric Premium Architecture (EPA), which be easily adapted to accommodate various vehicle classes, battery sizes, motors and component layouts. It integrates a five-link rear suspension setup and air suspension with Continuous Damping Control, while items such as active ride height adjust, active rear axle steering, active anti-roll bars and brake-based torque vectoring are offered as options. Lotus says the Eletre comes with four drive modes, Range, Tour, Sport, Off-Road and Individual, which adjust the steering, damper and powertrain settings, along with throttle pedal response.
The Lotus Eltre is offered in a more luxurious four-seat cabin layout, or a standard five-seat layout that will be better suited to families. It comes standard with a 15.1-inch infotainment display, which is joined by a color head-up display with augmented reality technology. Other standard interior equipment includes a 1,380-watt 15-speaker audio system (a 2,160-watt 23-speaker system is available as an option), a sporty multi-function steering wheel and 5G connectivity enabling over-the-air-updates and other connected features.
The Lotus Eletre will be built at the Chinese-owned automaker’s production facility in Wuhan, China. The first customer deliveries will commence in China, the UK and Europe in 2023. The vehicle is alleged to be slated for a U.S. arrival in 2024. Pricing has not yet been announced, but rumors indicate it will start at just over $100,000 USD. GM does not currently offer a sport electric crossover such as this, however a V-Series variant of a future Cadillac crossover, like the Lyriq for example, would serve as a solid competitor to the Eletre.
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Comments
Looks better then anything gm has shown so far.
I’d disagree, I think this thing is ugly in comparison to the Lyriq!
The massive plastic grill is a turn off on the lyriq.
It’s a Urus ripoff…
Exactly what I thought before I read the headline!
i agree totally.
I could consider this, unlike the plastic fantastic lyriq.
Plus people in Europe can get this, unlike anything from gm, which is possibly a plus since europeans are no longer exposed to inferior plastic products from gm.
Front looks bad just like the lyriq’s rear.
Everything else is really good.
Cadillac is too slow.
In no way does Cadillac compete with Lotus.
Lotus is kinda in a whole other league, not to mention their market is completely different than Cadillac, very highly doubt anyone has cross shopped these two brands.
Made in China crap.
Apple products are made in China, arguably the highest quality smart phones and tech on the market.
Nike and Air Jordan products are mostly made in China which are some of the highest quality sports clothing/shoes.
If made in China stuff is so bad why are people spending thousands of dollars on Apple products and $300 for a pair of Jordan sneakers?
Buick trademarked “Electra” at the end of last year. I assume the lawyers at the Ren Cen are drafting their Cease and Desist letters as we speak.
Lotus is Eletre. Buick is EleCtra. I doubt a law suit would have merit as they are different names after all. If law suits were able to make it through courts based on one letter, Tesla would have been successfully sued by Ford years ago.
Like the exterior. Interior nope. Dash is just awful.
The rear looks okay, but I don’t know if the light bar virtually everything is coming out with will age well.
The profile looks good, the interior looks sharp.
The front is awful. Like a mix between a Ford and the Urus.
Possibly the worst Lotus I’ve ever seen based on the history of the brand and its lightness philosophy.
very ugly recycle plastic
LOL. A Lotus is a Cadillac “rival”, really? Cadillac is a rival for Acura maybe but not for all the elite/boutique/luxury brands GMA is constantly trying to equate them with. GM destroyed the prestige of the Cadillac brand through years of cheap FWD products beginning with the Cimarron and continuing to the XTS and their entire lineup of utility vehicles today.
I realize this is a gm fan site so to include news from other carmakers, they have to try and find a gm angle but honestly sometimes, like this, there just isn’t one. Lotus is a small boutique carmaker and gm wouldn’t dare build anything remotely comparable to what Lotus offers.
Why you here to constantly do-doo on a company you don’t like?. I can’t stand Yo-yota but some of their products I wouldn’t mind driving, OTOH I’m not on their website saying how superior the Silverado is to Tundra. You can move on.
Trying to imagine Colin Chapman’s reaction to a bloated Chinese-made sport utility behemoth with a Lotus badge.
Everyone complains about made in China stuff
But I don’t see anyone complaining about the quality of the Apple iPhones or Mac computers.
I don’t see anyone complaining when they’re lining up around the street every time a new Michael Jordan shoe comes out.
I am at the point that I might agree with people that believe the Vette can become a Sub Brand.
A Vette CUV would go toe to tow with this. The Auto Industry is massively changing right now so if GM has ever seriously thought of a Vette Sub Brand now would be the ideal and maybe only time to do so.