Photo: Lotus
The Chinese-owned British automaker Lotus is slowly moving forward with its strategy for the all-electric future and revealed the pricing details in the EU and UK for its Emeya four-door 'hyper-GT,' a direct competitor for Tesla's Model S.
Tesla is the go-to electric vehicle manufacturer at the moment. Naturally, its huge success attracts a lot of attention, and everyone wants a piece of its zero emissions pie. In America, startups like Lucid have prepared an answer in the form of its Air sedan and Gravity SUV, but over in Europe, things were moving a bit slower when it came to flagship-level models. There are ideas like the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan and SUV siblings, but they're a bit poorly executed and obviously inspired by the aero looks of the Tesla Model S and Model X.
Well, Lotus – which is renowned for lightweight sports cars rather than big sales – had the quirky idea that it could also compete with Tesla for a piece of the EV market. As such, it now has two models produced in China: the Eletre British-Chinese electric full-size luxury crossover SUV showcased for the first time in 2022 and the recent Emeya five-door liftback grand tourer that was unveiled in September 2023. The strategy is well executed, according to Lotus – they're attacking the Model X and Model S first, including with new 450-kW DC fast chargers that are ideal for vehicles with 800V+ architectures.
On the other hand, the pricing isn't stellar, at least if we talk about the newly announced Emeya configurator. At 'home' in the UK, the GT with "unrivaled world-class performance, handling, range, charging, cabin space, and trunk space" kicks off at no less than £94,950, and since there are three models available, the Emeya S jumps to £107,450 whereas the top Emeya R starts from no less than £129,950. The comparison with the Tesla Model S in the UK is a bit of a stretch because only left-hand-drive inventory models are available, but as a side note, they start from £86,990 (Dual Motor AWD) and stop at £106,390 for the mighty Plaid.
Meanwhile, Lotus promotes a starting price of €106,400 on the Old Continent, which is over $116k at the current exchange rate. For reference, the Tesla Model S kicks off at home in the United States at $75k! Even if we take Germany's pricing into account, as this is the biggest car market in Europe, Emeya still comes out more expensive – Tesla declares a starting MSRP of €95k, and the Plaid is almost €110k while the Emeya S is announced from €126,950 and Emeya R goes to no less than €150,990.
Lotus probably hopes for the best and has already launched the 'hyper-GT' in China earlier in January 2024 with first UK and European customers set to receive their expensive EVs with up to 905 horsepower (and a zero to 62 mph/100 kph sprint in less than 2.8 seconds – Model S plaid does it in 2.1 seconds) and recharging rates of up to 350 kW (10-80% SoC in 18 minutes)sometime during the third quarter of the year.
Well, Lotus – which is renowned for lightweight sports cars rather than big sales – had the quirky idea that it could also compete with Tesla for a piece of the EV market. As such, it now has two models produced in China: the Eletre British-Chinese electric full-size luxury crossover SUV showcased for the first time in 2022 and the recent Emeya five-door liftback grand tourer that was unveiled in September 2023. The strategy is well executed, according to Lotus – they're attacking the Model X and Model S first, including with new 450-kW DC fast chargers that are ideal for vehicles with 800V+ architectures.
On the other hand, the pricing isn't stellar, at least if we talk about the newly announced Emeya configurator. At 'home' in the UK, the GT with "unrivaled world-class performance, handling, range, charging, cabin space, and trunk space" kicks off at no less than £94,950, and since there are three models available, the Emeya S jumps to £107,450 whereas the top Emeya R starts from no less than £129,950. The comparison with the Tesla Model S in the UK is a bit of a stretch because only left-hand-drive inventory models are available, but as a side note, they start from £86,990 (Dual Motor AWD) and stop at £106,390 for the mighty Plaid.
Meanwhile, Lotus promotes a starting price of €106,400 on the Old Continent, which is over $116k at the current exchange rate. For reference, the Tesla Model S kicks off at home in the United States at $75k! Even if we take Germany's pricing into account, as this is the biggest car market in Europe, Emeya still comes out more expensive – Tesla declares a starting MSRP of €95k, and the Plaid is almost €110k while the Emeya S is announced from €126,950 and Emeya R goes to no less than €150,990.
Lotus probably hopes for the best and has already launched the 'hyper-GT' in China earlier in January 2024 with first UK and European customers set to receive their expensive EVs with up to 905 horsepower (and a zero to 62 mph/100 kph sprint in less than 2.8 seconds – Model S plaid does it in 2.1 seconds) and recharging rates of up to 350 kW (10-80% SoC in 18 minutes)sometime during the third quarter of the year.
Google News