Lotus Excel Reviews

Lotus was once famous for making lightweight sports cars, but since being taken over by Chinese auto giant Geely the British brand is facing a very different future.We drive the new Lotus Eletre S, an electric SUV with a focus on performance and luxury, to see if this reinvented car company can become a serious rival to BMW, Mercedes-Benz and more.

Lotus was once Great Britain's answer to Ferrari, but its future is electric. However, it has one more petrol-powered sports car in it - the Emira. We drive this Porsche 718 Cayman rival to find out if it lives up to the legacy of the brand's iconic sports cars while also laying the foundations for the brand's future.

Lotus has announced a revised line-up for its two-door Emira sports coupe, with the new Turbo SE variant becoming the brand's most powerful four-cylinder to date.

Lotus has whipped the covers off its new Porsche smashing concept car.

The booming Chinese electric vehicle industry could be the key to Lotus reinventing itself as a luxury brand.

The Lotus Emeya electric car has already arrived in Australia half a year ahead of schedule with pricing confirmed.

A traditional sports car is a lot like the barfly at your local pub - it consumes a hell of a lot more, and is a lot louder than pretty much anything within a one kilometre radius. 

The electric car price cuts keep rolling.Boutique brand Lotus is the latest to slash a huge amount off the price of its EV as the electric car price war enters the luxury sphere.Its brutish Eletre electric performance SUV was originally slated to be priced from $239,000 (before on-road costs) for its base version, but now Aussies can jump in one for $189,900 – a whopping $49,100 less.The savings keep coming with the mid-tier S now $229,990 instead of $269,000 and the top-tier R variant is $279,990 not $315,000 as first announced.Customers who have already ordered an Eletre S or R will pay the new price when their cars arrive in Australia near the end of June.Production of the base Eletre will start in quarter 3 this year with deliveries either at the end of the year or early 2025.Lotus Australia Chief Operating Officer Richard Gibbs said the local outfit had inherited the pricing structure that came down from head office but they've been advocating for a review and were happy the powers to be agreed."It's a culmination of our market assessment and customer feedback," said Gibbs.He was keen on getting the price right before the cars arrived in country rather than being forced to cut the price once deliveries had started potentially angering existing customers."I think the fact we've done it now, I don't see us going through this again and we were quite keen to get this resolved before the vehicles arrive in market," he said." are not over inflated now and so there will be no bubble bursting."This is still not a cheap electric car, but it comes with potent performance and pedigree to match its steep price of entry.The Eletre uses two electric motors fed by a big 112kWh battery to make 450kW and 710Nm in the base and S versions and 675kW and 985Nm in the top-tier R.Aided by all-wheel drive grip, the Eletre can complete the benchmark 0-100km/h sprint in 4.5 seconds in lower grades or in a supercar rivalling 2.95 seconds in the R.Those that value driving range over lightning quick speed can choose the base or S versions that are capable of driving up to 600km on a single charge. The R’s claimed range drops to 490km.The Eletre is built with an 800-volt charging architecture that allows charging speeds of up to 350kW. This matches vehicles such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Porsche Taycan.Lotus claims it can replenish the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 20 minutes at its maximum rate. When hooked up to a 22kW AC wallbox charger it can go from zero to 100 per cent in just under six hours.The famed British brand - now Chinese owned - is known for its lightweight sports cars such as the Elise and Emira, making the Eletre the most un-Lotus Lotus ever, weighing in at about 2.6 tonnes.The new Eletre prices follow a mass of car makers dramatically slashing the cost of their electric cars.This week Peugeot knocked more than $20,000 off the price of its e-2008 electric small SUV to $39,990 drive-away.That model has since sold out according to Peugeot Australia and it won’t be on sale until the start of next year when the updated version arrives.Nissan also knocked $16,000 off the price of its slow selling Leaf electric hatchback. It now starts at $39,990 drive-away with the longer range e+ model $49,990 drive-away.Chinese car brand BYD has savings of up to $8000 on its already affordable Atto 3 and MG and GWM have applied generous drive-away prices to the 4 and Ora small electric hatchbacks.

The measurement by which the performance of a car is typically measured. It’s the kind of detail you can brag about to your friends at the pub or barbecue. It’s the factor car companies get into when they want to have a fight of strength.

Lotus has priced its newest model, the Eletre electric SUV that is designed to blow away petrol-powered super crossovers like the Aston Martin DBX, Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Macan.