You don't need the Eletre! The Emeya is here to sway you away from huge and heavy SUVs. This new all-electric grand tourer wants to make you forget about Tesla, Porsche, Lucid, and Rimac EVs. That might be wishful thinking, though. Here's why.
Geely-owned Lotus is making a comeback. It seems like the British brand will thrive under Chinese ownership. It has just launched the Emeya – an all-electric GT that can charge its 102-kWh battery nearly as fast as it can sprint from zero to 62 mph. That's not quite true, but this vehicle can use 350 kW DC stalls, which can lower the charging time tremendously. It should add around 90 miles of range every five minutes and reach 80% in about 18 minutes.
But keep in mind that it all depends on how well the battery pack can suck in all that energy. It might also require preconditioning.
The four-door EV features an active front grille, a rear diffuser, and a rear spoiler that help it stick to the ground at high speeds and remain efficient when driving calmly. Lotus coupled these features with the weight of the battery in the vehicle's floor and called it "hyperstance." That made us think of Ford GT's V-Max mode, but the Emeya doesn't get closer to the ground as spectacularly as that American automotive wonder.
What the Emeya does have, however, is a brilliant air suspension system that scans the road and uses sensors to do thousands of adjustments every second. It is a very fast car. But as a self-proclaimed GT, it must also be comfortable. So, it makes sense to have a sophisticated suspension system.
The vehicle uses a dual-motor setup that can propel it to a top speed of up to 155 mph or, depending on what and where you read or hear about it, 159 mph. Both figures seem correct, according to what we've seen from the automaker. Customers will get to such high numbers sustainably because the many materials (even the Nappa leather!) put into this EV are sourced with care for the environment.
Lotus' new flagship vehicle puts out up to 905 hp (675 kW) and 727 lb-ft of torque.
Photo: Lotus
Emeya also features a KEF surround sound system that debuted on the Eletre, with which it shares its average range on a single charge. The vehicle also includes an augmented reality (AR) head-up display and some advanced driver-assistance systems.
All this sounds good but not great. We have already seen Tesla and Lucid launching EVs with a tri-motor layout that allows them to produce over 1,000 hp with ease. The Model S Plaid reaches 62 mph in about 2.6 seconds, while the Air Sapphire does it in around 2.0 seconds. Even the Air Grand Touring is faster than the brand-new Emeya – it needs just 2.5 seconds to reach 62 mph.
Then, there are homegrown rivals like Bentley, which promise EVs with a zero to 62 mph time of around 1.7 seconds.
On top of that, pickup truck manufacturers like Rivian create EVs with four motors and an output of 835 hp – just 70 hp less than this hyper-GT.
Finally, the 2024 Lotus Emeya will be showcased in New York first. The brand prepared "an immersive experience" that starts on Saturday, September 9, and ends on Monday, September 11.
Prices have not been disclosed at the time of writing.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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