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No competition

The Lotus Eletre R ushers in a new era for Lotus.
The British automaker, famous for its light sports cars, is venturing into the SUV segment for the first time with the Eletre.
In fact, the Eletre has no real competitors.
The Porsche Cayenne, Lamborghini Urus, Ferrari Purosangue, BMW X5 M, Audi RS Q8 and Range Rover Sport SV may fall into the category of “absurdly fast SUVs,” but they all run on dinosap.
The Eletre is all-electric and leaves them all behind when it comes to sheer power.
The base version – simply “Eletre” – produces 603 horsepower, but the Eletre R we are testing adds another 300 horsepower.

Insane numbers

The Eletre R is the flagship of the Eletre lineup.
Two electric motors together produce 905 hp (!) and 985 Nm (!!!) of torque.
There are freight trains that envy such figures.
The result is a literally breathtaking acceleration from 0-100 km/h in just 2.95 seconds.
Know what you’re doing before you hit the gas pedal, because you’ll lose your license in no time.
Don’t worry about suddenly being rear-ended: the Eletre rolls on the widest tires tire maker Pirelli can provide.
The top speed of 265 km / h is perhaps a bit mediocre, considering its power, but of course that is perfectly acceptable.

Driving behaviour

It is not only its brute strength that impresses, but especially how it manages to transfer that power to the road.
Despite its hefty weight of over 2,600 kg, the Eletre R behaves almost like a sports car.
No, it’s definitely not an Elise or Exige, but thanks to the Lotus Dynamic Handling Pack, including active rear-wheel steering and Intelligent Active Roll Control, the Eletre R is exceptionally agile and stable, even at high speeds and in sharp corners.
The suspension with dual air chambers and adaptive damping also allows the car to switch effortlessly between sporty and comfortable driving.
In “Tour” driving mode, you float over the asphalt and don’t even notice when you drive over a high threshold.

Fast Charging King

A massive 112 kWh battery provides a range of up to 490 kilometers according to the WLTP standard.
In practice, count on 400 kilometers, unless you go stomping.
The Eletre and Eletre S both reach 600 kilometers on paper.
The Eletre’s biggest party trick is not its power or appearance, but its 800-volt architecture that allows up to 350 kW of fast charging.
This makes the Eletre – along with its sportier brother, the Lotus Emeya – the fast-charging king of the moment.
You can hear the transformer house near a fast charger sigh and groan as the Eletre slurps power in.
Despite its gigantic size, the battery can be charged from 10% to 80% in just 20 minutes.

Large but streamlined

During our testing, we noticed that the Eletre is a real attention-getter.
The striking yellow color is partly responsible for that.
But its large grille and special spoilers on the back of the roof also catch the eye.
Through all sorts of handy little wings, spoilers and air vents, the car minimizes drag and maximizes downforce.
The Eletre is large, but has a drag coefficient of only 0.26.

Chinese

Inside, the Eletre R offers a very luxurious and technologically advanced interior.
The materials are of the highest quality and the workmanship is top notch.
The brand leaves no stone unturned here and European automakers could even learn a thing or two from it.
The gold accents that recur throughout are a matter of taste and may be more to your liking in China than in Europe.
The Eletre is also practical: the spacious interior can accommodate five passengers and has a luggage space of 688 liters, expandable to 1,532 liters with the rear seats folded down.

Conclusion

The Lotus Eletre R blows everyone away in the SUV segment.
Not only is it the most powerful and fastest electric SUV on the market, it retains that typical Lotus DNA: pure driving experience, precision and craftsmanship.
Sure, it’s not a traditional Lotus as you know it from before, but let’s face it: without the deep pockets of Chinese parent company Geely, Lotus probably wouldn’t even exist anymore.
And yes, that investment obviously has to be recouped, so they build SUVs.

By the way, we would leave the Eletre R aside and opt for the 600-hp Eletre or Eletre S. With more than 900 hp, the R is simply too fast and powerful for our country full of speed cameras, requiring you to be constantly on your guard and operate the accelerator pedal only with your little toe.
Or you have to set the car to a driving mode that tempers the power, such as Range (the Eco mode) or Tour.
That way, it soon feels like you’ve purchased a racehorse that you can only use as a rocking horse.