Looks like an SUV. Drives like a .” So goes the tagline for the , the company’s first foray into the rarefied world of what’s known as the “hyper-SUV”, and, mostly, it lives up to the billing.
Not having driven a Lotus for some years, and always with a sentimental attachment to their petite sports cars, the Eletre certainly looks like an SUV, and an especially bulky one with it – it dwarfs just about any other car on the road – and included. You may have issues with the size and, especially, weight of this new breed of automobile – battery packs are heavy – and object to the large footprint of this 2.7 tonne behemoth; but it is stylish with it.
You have to hand it to the Eletre’s stylists, they’ve clothed the Eletre in the most glamourous fashion, so blending the now-traditional look and stance of an SUV with the elan (if you’ll pardon the Lotus-related allusion) of a coupe, and, indeed, the spirit of a 1970s Lotus supercar. We’ve certainly come a long way since decided to move into, indeed establish, this sporty SUV market with their . The Lotus Eletre’s blend of assertive Italianate “face”, diffusers and spoilers (all functional at high speeds) are an aesthetic delight.
So not only does it drive like a Lotus (with reservations – see below), but it looks (a bit) like a Lotus too; or at least as much as a Cayenne “looks like” a Porsche, or the looks like an Aston, or the looks like a Lambo, or the like a Maranello original, to name a few..
