Lotus has revealed official information on the hybrid version of its SUV, the Eletre X. Claiming some huge numbers in terms of range and power, the new model will be on sale in the UK early next year with the hope of jump-starting Lotus’ transformation into a high-end luxury car manufacturer. Pricing has not been confirmed, but we expect it to start between the current electric model variants at around £120,000 – if Lotus continues its ambitious pricing strategy.
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After the car was initially revealed for the Chinese market, Lotus has now confirmed specifications of the UK model. The fundamentals are still the same – it comes with a range-extender hybrid set-up, with two electric motors fed by a 70kWh battery pack, with a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine acting largely as a generator.
The peak combined power figure is 939bhp, which is 46bhp more than the highest-performing all-electric Eletre 900. However, the extra weight associated with the more complex powertrain makes the 0-62mph time 0.4 seconds slower than the pure electric car’s at 3.3 seconds.
Lotus quotes an all-electric range of up to 260 miles on a charge before the ICE engine needs to get involved, but there is a caveat to this, because it’s based on the far more lenient CLTC economy cycle. A 200-mile range is more realistic on the local WLTP cycle, but this is still impressive. Lotus quotes a total range of 877 miles on battery and petrol power, again on the CLTC cycle.
