Lotus Eletre: a first 'sit' in the new electric SUV

Lotus unveiled the new Eletre SUV in London this week - right around the corner from the TopGear.com office. So, a few of us popped over to have a close-up look at this crucial (and controversial) new car for the British marque. Here's our first impressions...

Ollie Marriage, head of car testing

My main takeaway from last night? The Eletre looks less an Urus in the flesh than in pictures, but still has zero commonalities with the lovely looking Evija and Emira. I don’t think much of it. The porosity theme that Lotus bangs on about is all very well, but it’s resulted in a greedier, more gaping front end than any petrol SUV. It’ll arrive behind you in traffic like a feeding whale shark. Another reminder European tastes no longer govern car design, perhaps? I still have high hopes it’ll drive well. Gavan Kershaw, Lotus’s man in charge of that, cited Porsche’s Taycan saloon, not the Cayenne SUV, as the benchmark.

Paul Horrell, consultant editor

I'm looking forward to seeing the Eletre after a fast rainy road-trip. The paths traced by dirty rivulets over and through the bodywork will be fascinating. At least they will if Lotus's claims for aero porosity are true. I also wonder about the cabin. It's lovely, sitting there new. Ambient lighting adds to the sculpture of its big storage bins. How will that look when they're full of junk? Yeah, trivial I know. Far more important: will it prove, like the Taycan and I-Pace and i4, that makers of the best-driving combustion cars also do the best-driving EVs?

Read the full story on the new Lotus Eletre here

Ollie Kew, senior road test editor

I jumped in the back of the Eletre, and reclined. Surprisingly raked back, those rear seats, but the space is enormous – like a Panamera with more light flooding in. So, should the Chinese buyer like to be chauffeured now and again, the Lotus SUV can accommodate. Something conspicuously absent was much chatter about off-road ability. Porsche and Bentley were both at pains to prove their luxo-4x4s could cut it in the rough, as that gave them a Range Rover’s credibility. Even Lamborghini made noises about mud-plugging with the Urus. Has Lotus boldly realised these cars are less likely to get dirty than the intended owner’s Air Jordans?

Vijay Pattni, editor TopGear.com

It’s massive in here. The materials feel great, the layout is clean, the central screen is framed nicely by the dash and there’s acres of head- and leg-room. It’s also markedly less… let's say ‘overt’ inside than out; Lotus was keen to point out the Eletre’s aero-honed exterior surfacing, but it feels calmer and less blustery tucked away inside the thing. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the world takes to it, because it carries with it a great weight of expectation: Lotus wants to sell thousands of ‘em. Just ask Porsche or Lamborghini: if you want to see more sportscars, you’ll have to see a lot of these.

Katie Potts, web producer TopGear.com

As futuristic inside as it is out. Though my inner clean freak can’t help but worry about the interior getting absolutely ruined by families. Yes, it’s clean and the materials feel good, but will daily life get the better of it? Aggressive front end, too. Fitting, if you consider this 600bhp hyper-SUV will one day be usurped by a 900bhp tri-motor version. Yikes. A huge leap forward for Lotus.

Lotus is readying a 900bhp version of the Eletre SUV