American international publication GQ Magazine named the all-new Lotus Eletre “SUV of the Year” on February 21, owing to its innovative design and strong performance.
For context, the GQ magazine’s Car Of The Year awards select cars from a wide range of categories annually. The GQ’s panel of design, lifestyle and automotive experts follows the basic criteria of being “inspiring, interesting, have automotive integrity, and get the pulse racing.”
It is quite remarkable that Eletre, a relative newcomer to the electric vehicle industry, outperformed the competitors of many of the most reputable SUV makers in the world.
What’s special about the Eletre?
The Eletre has not won the SUV of the Year award by chance. It showed off its outstanding traits, which totally attracted and amazed the panels.
“The premium electric SUV sector is filling up faster than you can say ‘recession-proof’ with all the automotive big beasts vying for attention, but none have grabbed our attention like Lotus.”
GQ Magazine
As Lotus advertises, the all-new Eletre is the “world’s fastest dual motor SUV.” It boasts 905 horsepower and 726 pound-feet of torque. Moreover, it has a 0-60 acceleration time of just 2.95 seconds.
It also has a huge 112kWh battery, giving it a maximum range of 373 miles. The maximum performance option has a range of 304 miles. As for the price, it starts at £89,500.
Appearance-wise, the Lotus Eletre is breathtakingly stunning. See for yourself below.
“From the very first discussions about what the Eletre should be, our vision was to deliver a unique and highly desirable car that would demonstrate to the world what the EV future of Lotus would stand for. As an SUV, it will bring a completely new audience to the brand – a lifestyle customer. To be recognized for that by GQ, a globally renowned lifestyle publication, is a great honor.”
Ben Payne, Lotus’ Chief Creative Officer
Key specifications
Below are the key specifications of the Lotus Eletre, per the official online configurator.
| Specs | ELETRE | ELETRE S | ELETRE R |
| Range | 373 miles | 373 miles | 304 miles |
| Top Speed | 160 mph | 160 mph | 165 mph |
| Acceleration 0-62 mph | 4.5 sec | 4.5 sec | 2.95 sec |
| Dual Motor | 450kW | 450kW | 675kW |
| Speed Transmission | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Architecture | 800V | 800V | 800V |
| Wheel Drive | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| AC on board charger | 22kWh | 22kWh | 22kWh |
Apart from that, the Lotus Eletre also offers the following technologies as standard for all variants:
- Heads Up Display
- 15.1” HD OLED centre screen
- KEF Premium Audio (1380w with 15 speakers)
- Wireless Apple CarPlay / Android Auto
- Satellite Navigation (where available)
- Bluetooth
- DAB radio
- ADAS
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Driver monitoring system
- Rear collision warning
- Traffic sign recognition
- Front and rear cross traffic alert
- Lane keep assist
- Blind spot detection
- Park assist front and rear
- Visual park assist
- Lotus Intelligent Dynamic Chassis Control (LIDC)
Indeed, Lotus is on the right track if GQ’s recognition is any indication. Hopefully, it means that even more spectacular cars are in store for the legendary automaker.
