Malaysia and Lotus may have a long history together but today’s occasion marks a different chapter altogether. Just moments ago, the Geely and Etika Automotive subsidiary officially unveiled its first full-electric SUV, the Lotus Eletre in our market.
When the company first unveiled to the world last October, it described Eletre as having the soul of Emira which is not only the brand’s latest performance car but it is also the last model to be powered by an internal combustion engine. At the same time, the new all-electric SUV is said to have the aero performance of Evija full-electric hypercar.
Built using the 800V Electric Premium Architecture, the Lotus Eletre features a dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup. However, the actual performance that owners get to experience depends on the specific variant of the new EV.
Interestingly enough, Lotus Cars Malaysia is bringing all three variants of the Eletre into our market including the top of the range option, the Eletre R which can deliver 675kw (905hp) of output and 985Nm of torque. Also featuring a dual-speed system, the SUV has the ability to go from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.95 seconds together with a maximum speed of 265km/h.
Also available in Malaysia are the Eletre S and standard Eletre which has a single-speed system together with a power output of 450kW (603 hp) and a top speed of 258km/h. When it comes to 0 to 100km/h acceleration, the figure for these variants is slightly lower than their R counterpart but nevertheless, still pretty impressive at 4.5 seconds.
Regardless of the version that one prefers, all three Eletre variants come with a 112kWh battery. Being one of the very few EVs in the market that can take advantage of 350kW DC fast chargers (DCFC), Lotus said that the Eletre requires only 20 minutes of charging time to go from 10% to 80% when it is plugged into such DCFC.
That being said, the Eletre still can support AC charging through its onboard AC charger which can support power input of up to 22kW.
Despite having the same battery and charging architecture, the maximum travel distance that Electre owners can extract from the EV depends on their performance output. For example, the Eletre R maxes out at 490km according to WLTP standards but the standard Eletre and Eletre S can go as far as 600km.
Price-wise, the Eletre R is available in Malaysia with a starting price of RM798,000 not inclusive of insurance and road tax. For the S and standard model, they can be obtained from RM648,000 and RM578,000 onwards.
Despite being launched just today, the General Manager of Lotus Cars Malaysia, Tengku Ezan Ley has said that 140 units out of 200 that have been allocated for our market in 2023 have been booked. So, you may want to act fast if you want to get your hands on the new full-electric hyper SUV.
