The year 2023 truly belongs to SUVs. Although we’re approaching December, the SUV market is still bustling as ever. And now, it’s time for luxury car segment.
After the revival of luxury cars like Volvo and Polestar, China-based Geely has decided to revive LOTUS, a legendary sport car, once again as an all-electric SUV, without leaving the Roadster concept. The launch of LOTUS Eletre has garnered overwhelming attention from car lovers and industry insiders for its powerful engine and dramatic design, marking a prestigious comeback for this 75-year-old brand, which also has the birthday around the same time as Porche.
The name LOTUS might remind you of a lightweight 2-door sport roadster that boasts rawness and power, so it’s natural to cast doubt on how the sport car manufacturer would achieve the same level of success in the SUV arena. It was indeed a tall order for the engineering team as it was no difference from facing Porsche Cayenne, the king of luxury SUV, as its rival.
So far, the outcome was more than impressive.
LOTUS Eletre has its own unique racing car design plus an extremely powerful electrical engine with 900 horsepower (hp) and acceleration rate from zero to a hundred in just only 2.9 seconds. It is lightweight but great in adhesion on surfaces. The maximum distance Eletre R can go is 490 kilometers and Eletre S is 600 kilometers.
Besides, the Eletre comes with far more advanced technology in every single feature. The first one is Ultra-HD cameras which can see objects as close as 500 meters in front of the vehicle. The additional wide-angle lens, 4-sided cameras, and rear sensor provide full 360° coverage, including 34 sensors. The second one is Driver Monitoring System that can help detect fatigue or lost focus in driver. The last one is Life Detection and Care that can help monitoring children or pets left in the vehicle especially when the temperature is high. Other features include SOS, Highway Assist, Autopilot and more.
Drivers need not worry about autopilot in the Eletre because the function’s design is at level 4 and will be updated via 5G network in the future. Through the Electre’s app on the smartphone, you can tell your car to “pick” you up by “driving” itself from the parking area to your location. You can also order it to find a parking space on its own.
What a dream car!
When it comes to design and materials, they are topgrade, with several parts being made from recycled materials including the car seats (re-fibered textiles from fashion industry), and the Econyl carpet (100% recyclable). For immersive audio experience, the Eletre is equipped with KEF Premium Audio with 1,380-watt 15-speaker system with Uni-Q and surround sound technology.
Clearly, this is not an average SUV but a Hyper-SUV. The price is approximately 6 million baht in Thailand. You can expect to see this mighty masterpiece on the road by early next year.
The full version is available in the 5000s magazine issue 54. Subscribe Now.
