In the wave of electrification of the global automotive industry, both car companies that focus on transportation products and supercar manufacturers that are known for their performance are striving to transform to electrification. Founded in 1948, Lotus is no exception for its lightweight design and pure driving pleasure. As early as 2018, Lotus proposed the "Vision80" brand revival plan at the 70th anniversary of the brand, taking the lead in the transformation to electrification and intelligence in the global sports car brand.
In this context, the first pure electric HYPER SUV model, the Lotus ELETRE, was born. As an important milestone in Lotus's official transformation into an electrified, intelligent high-performance car brand, what new experience will Lotus ELETRE bring?
State-of-the-art aerodynamics suite
The royal wind gallops the new battlefield
Lotus is known to be an industry leader in a number of technologies such as driving control, steering and aerodynamics. This time, Lotus is also using the active aerodynamic kit commonly used in supercars for the first time in a production SUV model.
From the appearance, the highly tense front face design with sharp LED daytime running lights looks extremely fierce. At the same time, the long and near light groups hidden on both sides of the front surround and the front surround of the wrap-around design also bring a strong visual impact.
In addition, multiple sets of Race-Aero air ducts, active down air intake grilles, to ensure good aerodynamic performance of the body, it is reported that this set of front face design can provide 51 kg of downforce.
The two-color paint on the side of the car, with the double waist line of the wave shape, brings a more obvious sense of flow. In addition, the protruding design of the front and rear fender profiles, together with the concave lines in the doors, creates a distinctly wide-body effect. Meanwhile, lotus ELETRE is equipped with 23-inch two-tone blade-edge five-spoke hubs, concealed door handles and electronic mirrors.
The double-piece rear spoiler at the rear of the car, the airway design, the double-layer large-size rear diffuser, and the active electric rear spoiler are also part of the aerodynamic kit, which brings a great improvement to the performance of the vehicle.
Both exterior and interior, Lotus ELETRE is dominated by the Lotus Technology and Creativity Centre (LTCC) in the UK. In the cockpit part, Lotus ELETRE adopts a very sci-fi style design collocation, 5 digital meters + 2 streaming mirrors are very in line with the design trend of the current era of electrification. The 29-inch AR HUD vision system and the foldable 9-inch central screen in the rear guarantee practicality and enhance the technical attributes.
I have to say that ELETRE, as the first high-performance pure electric Hyper SUV after Lotus announced full electrification, has shown a rebellious, pioneering and exquisite brand personality in terms of design sense and intelligent technology, and dares to break the convention and challenge the traditional Lotus ELETRE is definitely the promoter of this industrial revolution.
Top three-electric system to create pure electrical performance "monster"
In the field of electrified vehicles, the performance of vehicles has been further improved. Lotus's independently developed EPA edge evolution architecture can adapt the battery, motor, software layout and track-level intelligent driving technology of C+ to E+ models, and Lotus ELETRE is the first model developed based on this platform.
In terms of power, the Lotus ELETRE is equipped with an electric motor code-named EDS2, which is arranged in front of and behind the body and provides a maximum power of more than 600hp. Coupled with a two-speed gearbox mated to the rear axle motor and an electronically controlled four-wheel drive system, lotus ELETRE accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.95 seconds.
At the same time, with a battery capacity of more than 100 kWh, the maximum cruising range of lotus ELETRE can reach 600 km (WLTP conditions). At 350kW charging, it takes only 20 minutes to travel 400 km and is compatible with 22kW AC power.
It is worth mentioning that the Lotus ELETRE is equipped with four 128-line lidars, and in order to reduce the impact on the aerodynamic design, it also adopts a retractable design. In addition, Lotus ELETRE also provides 7 SMP cameras, 6 mmWave radar, 4 2MP surround view cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars and an in-car camera, plus 2 8155 chips, Lotus ELETRE's overall hash rate of 2.2 GFLOPS.
Uncle Che summed up
The launch of ELETRE represents a new era for the Lotus brand. Inheriting the Lotus track DNA, ELETRE also brings an outstanding technological experience with a more intelligent configuration. The trinity of history, heritage and technology makes this HYPER SUV have epoch-making significance. Today, Lotus ELETRE has opened pre-sales in the UK and Europe, and the first vehicles will be delivered as early as 2023. Soon, this pioneering, rebellious and sophisticated performance monster will also be unveiled in China, let's look forward to it!