Australian Lotus Eletre pricing announced

LOTUS Cars Australia has announced that its new, fully electric, China-built Eletre “hyper-SUV” is priced from $239,000 before on-road costs and will touch down here in October for test drives ahead of first customer deliveries in the second quarter of next year.

A trio of variants of “the fastest dual motor electric SUV on the planet” are on offer, starting with the eponymous entry level Eletre, then stepping up to the S from $269,000 and the R from $315,000, all excluding on-road costs.

For comparison, the kick-off price of an Eletre in the British market is equivalent to $A171,400 plus on-roads.

The money (or less) buys some fairly tasty fully electric performance vehicles in Australia, among which is Audi’s SQ8 E-Tron that supersedes the current E-Tron SUV and Sportback and will arrive around the same time as the Lotus with an expected sub-$200K + ORC opening price given the outgoing model is in the $170K + ORC region.

A BMW iX M60 is similar in price to the base Eletre at  $233,400 + ORC, a Jaguar I-Pace starts from $147,475 + ORC, and the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo opens at $185,200 + ORC.

The BMW outputs 455kW and 1100Nm, while Audi quotes 370kW/973Nm, offering a pretty convincing bang-for-buck advantage over the bottom two Eletre variants that deliver 450kW/710Nm. The Eletre R ups these to 675kW and 985Nm for a solid win over a simularly-priced Taycan Cross Turismo Turbo at 500kW/850Nm.

Lotus says the Eletre and Eletre S can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds and go on to a V-max 258km/h. Both are rated at a WLTP combined range of up to 600km.

Putting that assertion into perspective is the sub 3.0 second 0-100km/h sprint time for the porky 2640kg Eletre R.

Specification of the Eletre S and Eletre R variants are confirmed for Australia and customers will soon be able to configure their vehicle online at the Lotus Cars Australia website. A comprehensive list of options is available across the range.

Lotus cars Australia says initial enquiry interest and reservation deposits have been strong across all Lotus Centres, which are now able to confirm final specification and drive away pricing for customers wanting to lock in their early build slots for deliveries next year.

From October, demonstrator vehicles will be at Lotus Centres with bookings being taken for test drives.

The two powertrain options are fed by an underfloor 800-volt, 112kWh lithium-ion battery pack with a sophisticated thermal management system and battery control module to deliver the ideal operating conditions crucial to both range and durability.

Lotus says it can be recharged from 10 to 80 per cent in a claimed 20 minutes using rapid recharge facilities and up to 120 km is attainable in five minutes.

Permanent magnet, synchronous motors are housed together with the transmissions and inverters inside a single, cast housing for optimum packaging efficiency. All models feature a single-speed transmission on the front axle. 

While the same is true for the rear axle of the Eletre and Eletre S, the Eletre R features a two-speed design. Lotus says the advanced electric drive units deliver “astonishing and exploitable new levels of performance to the SUV segment, together with remarkable efficiency”.

The flagship Eletre R is all about performance, boasting Lotus Dynamic Handling Pack (comprising Intelligent Active Roll Control and Active Rear Steering), Carbon Pack, Pirelli P Zero performance tyres, and a gloss black finish for the wheels. A sixth Drive Mode: Track is provided. 

Lotus says the Eletre is “aimed at a new generation of its customers seeking a practical, versatile and spacious family-focused electric hyper-SUV,” and that it is “the most advanced Lotus ever, blending comfort, performance and cutting-edge luxury design with sustainable materials”.

Included in the Eletre is a state-of-the-art infotainment system that uses Lotus’ Hyper OS to deliver an intuitive and immersive experience for all occupants. The SUV also leverages other Lotus EVs, the Emira and Evija, for critical components such as the suspension and chassis tech.

The Eletre boasts a full suite of advanced driver assistance systems centred on an innovative deployable LIDAR system while over-the-air updates (OTA) deliver the latest functionality and software to the vehicle.

Autonomous driving to Level 4 is accessible in the Eletre, Lotus claims, although jurisdictions where this is allowed are almost non-existent.