Type 132 has a name: ELETRE

[Jon_N]

Such a crowded space, Lotus is a sports car brand…. feels too early in the new era for an SUV IMHO. I know Porsche has done it successfully, but they already had a stable of proven sports cars….
Time will tell & I’ll watch the launch with interest!

 

[frazzer]

Looks like they have messed up the big reveal tonight at 19:30pm that is the actual car on the Lotus website.

Be worth booking your Lotus factory tour in a month or so, so that you might be able to view this car in the flesh.

I think it's being built in their China factory rather than at Hethel

 

[digilotus]

Looks like it’s on its way for the big reveal!

 

[DJS]

I think it's being built in their China factory rather than at Hethel

Yeah but just like China they have the Emira in their show rooms, and as we can see from the pictures they physically have an Eletre here in London.

I suspect they will park one up at Hethal before the tour, let's see.

 

[NicolasB]

Remember, if you are in the states, this happens at 2:30pm, Eastern standard time.

 

[xen]

For a sneak peek - it looks like the Eletre has been shown in the Lotus Story video on lotuscars.com!

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Hard pass for me. Can’t tell if it wants to be soft and organic or edgy and aggressive.

Hoping release pictures / videos are better.

 

[VL3X]

Looks pretty cool to me.. Especially the interior. Looking forward to the actual reveal.

Side note.. I really wish the Emira seats had an option for contrast center stripe like this..

 

[Eagle7]

Looks like they've discovered their goof and removed the images from the website already.

This is such a disappointment. Clearly not the work of Russell and his team.

The gnarly front doesn't match the simplicity of the side or rear of the vehicle.

The driver's door looks like it was hit by something and dented in the door. Is there a purpose for that strange triangular vent at the leading edge of the door?

The upper headlights are unnecessarily complicated; again, not matching the style language of the side or rear. Was the front done by a different team than the sides and back? The front is completely out of character with the rest of the vehicle.

The back is decent enough, and should have been the styling cue for the front. I'm sorry but the front is just yuck.

The wheels are unnecessarily busy; don't match the clean simplicity of the sides. A cleaner, simpler wheel would have been much more complimentary.

All designers everywhere seem to like those ridiculously thin sideview mirrors which can never be made into production. If that's what you have to do to make your design look good, you're not being realistic. The Emira's sideview mirrors are actually quite good and some of the best designs I've seen on a modern car.

This has potential, it just needs some work to unify and clean up the styling, especially the front. Moving the styling language of the back to the front would make it very sleek and modern. I think I'll get the 3D model when one's available, and do some work on it.

 

[frazzer]

Looks like they've discovered their goof and removed the images from the website already.

This is such a disappointment. Clearly not the work of Russell and his team.

The gnarly front doesn't match the simplicity of the side or rear of the vehicle.

The driver's door looks like it was hit by something and dented in the door. Is there a purpose for that strange triangular vent at the leading edge of the door?

The upper headlights are unnecessarily complicated; again, not matching the style language of the side or rear. Was the front done by a different team than the sides and back? The front is completely out of character with the rest of the vehicle.

The back is decent enough, and should have been the styling cue for the front. I'm sorry but the front is just yuck.

The wheels are unnecessarily busy; don't match the clean simplicity of the sides. A cleaner, simpler wheel would have been much more complimentary.

All designers everywhere seem to like those ridiculously thin sideview mirrors which can never be made into production. If that's what you have to do to make your design look good, you're not being realistic. The Emira's sideview mirrors are actually quite good and some of the best designs I've seen on a modern car.

This has potential, it just needs some work to unify and clean up the styling, especially the front. Moving the styling language of the back to the front would make it very sleek and modern. I think I'll get the 3D model when one's available, and do some work on it.

Agree with just about all of this - not a cohesive design and the disappointment continues in the interior (stuck on iPad)

To my mind the challenge of SUV design is to avoid the vehicle looking like a raised car. That void at on the front increases its visual height - more over anthropomorphically it looks like a gaping idiot. The sides and rear are more successful, but the design language seems inconsistent. I see a few Urus'es (plural?) around here, they look a lot more together, the front is well articulated, and ironically less needlessly aggressive than this.

Frankly I'd be embarrassed to pick the kids up from school in this, looking like an idiot who hates people and would have a rocket launcher strapped to the side of the car if he could.

What's wrong with being innovative and have modern but friendly design? We can't get out of this post-9/11 gorilla tank aesthetic playing on alpha-male insecurity type design soon enough.

Rant over and looking forward to the reveal

 

[Johnson]

Wow, now that’s a mouth. Looks like the front bumper guy took the day off.

I think it’s quite clever the way the tail looks thin in profile (compared to other horrid SUVs). And I’m not sure that rear view cameras (vs mirrors) are legal here in Australia yet…

 

[Schumacher]

I have no interest in electric cars for the near future. The battery density is just too low. I am going to wait at least a decade.

 

[Persad12]

i like the tail and side profiles, the front isnt bad but will take time getting used to. I just hope lotus doesnt cater this to a niche market and charge a ridiculous price for it. If then want to be a brand to compete with porsche they need reasonably prices to allure porsche customers to lotus.

 

[NicolasB]

ILL-et-truh being the final answer...

 

[DJS]

Well much better looking than I expected wow

 

[frazzer]

looks better in silver, I was a bit harsh in my last post

Still, starting at £100k, it's in Urus / Bentaga / school fees territory and so, as they say in the den, "I'm out"

 

[Tonyshepp]

looks better in silver, I was a bit harsh in my last post

Still, starting at £100k, it's in Urus / Bentaga / school fees territory and so, as they say in the den, "I'm out"

My guess is 120k for base model.

 

[Pegasi]

My take:

1. Don't like the name. But in all honesty, and this may get me kicked off the forum, I don't like any of Lotus's names. Not a fan of starting with an E. Too soft and doesn't roll off my tongue. Sounds like I should be doing a quick three step tap dance and waving my arm before saying any Lotus name.

2. I like the styling, may love it in person and in the right color. This may be a car that looks better in person. I don't think my STI looks good in photos, but it does have some good angles in person, and some bad angles. I like the front, side, love the back and the retractable wing.

3. Love the interior. Really love the interior. I like the big screen the way they have it angled. That is much better than vertical.

4. I think I am hearing the price is 135K for the US? Can't afford this.

5. When is the reveal for the new Lotus/Alpine EV? Might as well put a deposit on that since we are playing Deposit Lotus Whack A Mole.

 

[912Matt]

I agree with you, i'm going to give it a little more time before pulling my deposit.

If this is a 100k + I just can't see them selling it in the masses.

What Car review describes it as Macan rival, but has estimated price of £115k?

 

[DJS]

What Car review describes it as Macan rival, but has estimated price of £115k?

They are saying sub 100k for the car so what that actually means is the base model out of the 3 forthcoming options will be £99,999 plus on the road plus delivery.

All other options could be endless.