Lotus Emeya review

It’s the second of four electric Lotuses in the Geely regime era of the company. We’ve had the Eletre SUV: here’s its four-door saloon cousin. The perma-delayed 1,978bhp Evija hypercar might arrive as a flagship at some point, then we’re promised a less powerful e-supercar follow-up. But the Eletre and this sleek four-door are the crucial money-spinners.

You said it’s a four-door saloon. It’s not.

Fair point: it’s actually more of a liftback like an Audi A7 or Porsche Panamera. And it’s a big’un too: over five metres long and two metres wide. In the metal the Emeya’s an arresting looking thing, and definitely a head-turner. Those slender glowered running lights and the thick fins in the front air dam give it a menacing presence.

Though, despite a grand total of 13 ‘ACBC’ logos around the exterior and interior (the initials of company founder Colin Chapman) you might find yourself explaining to people what it actually is. “Yes, really. A Lotus. No, not like an Elise. Well yes, but…” And so on.

What versions are there?

There’s three models to choose between. The base Emeya and the Emeya S we’ve been driving share the same 603bhp dual-motor set-up, with 524lb ft of torque. Top of the range is the Emeya R, because what EV line-up would be complete without a sickeningly fast final act? The R offers 905bhp and 727lb ft, which is enough to haul it from 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds. The base car and S take 4.2 seconds, and top out at 155mph, and the R is 4mph faster at the top end.

How big is the battery and what’s the range?

All three versions of the Emeya are based around a 102kWh lithium-ion battery. That’s slightly smaller than the 109kWh cell pack in the taller Eletre SUV, but Lotus says that’s compensated for by the lower car having superior aerodynamics so the shortfall in range shouldn’t be too dramatic. The base car and S claim a range of up to 379 miles. By upgrading to the R you lose over 100 miles of claimed range, which is why – as with the Eletre SUV – Top Gear’s preference isn’t actually the fastest one. It’s just not worth the one-trick pony acceleration for what you lose in endurance.

Not unless I can charge it really fast.

Ah, well in that case you’re in luck, because the Emeya hoovers up electricity faster than a power grid can produce it. Its peak charging rate is a record-breaking 402kW, meaning it can charge from 10-80 per cent in 14 minutes. However, finding a 400kW charger in Europe is like finding a satisfied England football fan in a pub: a thankless task unlikely to end successfully.

Lotus claims an 18-minute recharge on a 350kW charger, but a 7kW home wallbox is an overnight juice-up. In fairness, in China – Lotus’s real homeland these days – there are likely to be more ultra-high-speed chargers than on the Norfolk broads.

If you boil down electric saloons to one reason for buying, then the Porsche Panamera is the one you want because it’s objectively good to drive. The Tesla Model S is the one to have if you prize range and dependable charging infrastructure above all else. And the best all-rounder in the world, with the greatest packaging and depth of engineering, is the Lucid Air.

The Lotus Emeya’s niche is comfort and interior design. That’s not what we expect of a Lotus, but against the like of a Lucid Air, Audi e-tron GT and the Taycan, the Emeya simply isn’t the best drive in its class. Its appeal is more nuanced than that, and actually might be one that wins a lot of people over: a connectivity-obsessed cabin rich in material details with huge tech appeal and rich quality is something that makes anodyne EV motoring a lot more palatable.

We’d have liked Lotus’s take on the subject to have been more driver-centric, but EV saloons are all so big and heavy right now, it’s unlikely it would’ve differentiated itself successfully. It’s also aggressively priced: here’s hoping the range stacks up when the weather turns chilly.