Lotus Cars Malaysia (LCM) has received over 500 bookings for the Lotus Eletre in Malaysia. That’s a big surprise when you consider the electric SUV’s price point (great value for what it is, but RM578k to RM798k is no small sum) and the fact that Lotus isn’t really a mainstream brand – this is Hethel’s first EV and first SUV. Also, there’s no shortage of premium badged EVs in the market now.
At the Eletre’s official launch in April, LCM revealed that it already had 140 names in its order books, out of a 200-unit allocation for Malaysia in 2023. With orders continuing to pour in, it looks like there will be a bit of waiting time for those who recently put their names down for one. First deliveries will start in the fourth quarter of this year.
You may or may not like how the Eletre looks, but there’s no denying that it’s attention grabbing, as those of you who were at EVx 2023 over the weekend can testify. Under that sculpted body is a dual-motor AWD powertrain for all three variants – the RM578,000 Eletre, the RM648,000 Eletre S and the RM798,000 Eletre R ‘hyper SUV’.
The base Eletre and the S have 605 hp and 710 Nm of torque, good for a 0-100 km/h time of 4.5 seconds and an 80-120 km/h overtaking time of just 2.2 seconds. Top speed is 258 km/h. That’s plenty fast already, but the Eletre R takes things up a few notches with 905 hp, 985 Nm and a 0-100 km/h time of 2.95 seconds. The 80-120 km/h time is down to 1.9 seconds and top speed is 265 km/h, making it the world’s fastest dual-motor electric SUV, according to Lotus.
All three variants get a 112 kWh battery, which provides the Eletre and Eletre S with a range of 600 km on the WLTP cycle. The range-topping R trades some of that range for its prodigious performance, but still manages a respectable and practical 490 km WLTP. Charging is as fast as the SUV itself – thanks to an 800-volt electrical architecture that supports up to 350 kW DC fast charging, going from 10-80% state of charge takes just 20 minutes.
Five drive modes are available as standard – Range, Tour, Sport, Off-Road and Individual – with the Eletre R getting an extra Track mode. The latter applies further adjustment to the active rear-wheel steering, adaptive dampers and active anti-roll control, while also fully opening the active front grille and enabling launch control.
Inside, all three variants have five seats as standard, with cargo capacity of 688 litres with all seats in place and up to 1,532 litres with the rear seats folded – crazy performance aside, this is also a practical SUV. The car you see here has the optional Executive Seat pack, which trades the rear bench for two individual chairs.
Speaking of options, customers can personalise their Eletre with a selection of packs; these include the Lotus Dynamic Handling Pack, Ceramic Brake Pack, Comfort Seat Pack, Carbon Fibre Pack, Extended Carbon Fibre Pack and Interior Carbon Fibre Pack, as well as a Parking Pack and a Highway Assist Pack for the ADAS suite. Of course, ticking a few boxes would add to the base prices quoted above.
A total of six exterior colours are offered for the Eletre, and they are Natron Red, Galloway Green, Stellar Black, Kaimu Grey, Blossom Grey and the bright Solar Yellow you see here. Official distributor LCM offers a five-year, 150,000 km factory warranty for the SUV, while the battery gets its separate eight-year, 200,000 km warranty.
Did you manage to get up close to the Eletre at EVx? What do you think of its looks, price and package? We’ve driven it already and here’s what our man thinks of the Eletre, which is unlike every other Lotus that came before it.
GALLERY: Lotus Eletre Malaysian launch
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Made by Wuhan Lotus.
Bitter truth that Malaysians refuse to swallow
Ahh, so that’s what they’re known as now? Wuhan Proton? Nice. Shall we also call Wuhan ECRL? And ministers who support collaboration with them… Wuhan ex-PM? Oh, Wuhan Garden City?5
The ignorance of the young in this country is just amazing.
Geely might own Lotus but the entire management team is still Lotus UK. Geely sits at the board and provide financial and facilities support but decisions very much remains in the UK. If you people still cannot comprehend how Geely so successfully steered Volvo from their highly potential demise, into a force that competes with the big 3 Germans, really, just buy bicycles OK? Your comments here only confirm your level of gray matter.
All those new techs in the new Lotus come from china geli
what are you talking about? Long post, bla bla bla..
I said “Made by Wuhan Lotus” because the plate near the door jam of that car literally printed “Wuhan Lotus”.
You don’t have to bring politics to everything.
cost of living crisis? what cost of living crisis!?
There u go. These re the true T20. Period!!
Dont forget the C20 especially profound in Malaysia given free money through Direct Negotiation Tender projects making us 3rd biggest cronyism capital in the world and at most times through illicit means have no where to spend there you go a free car paid with cash to friends and family.
Look at the prices…………..
Good example if taxes are reduced, demand will increase. Too high a tax means less revenue for gomen. This have been illustrated repeatedly over decades.
Some people criticize RM199k Tesla for its build quality and questionable after sales service. But at least the Tesla product will be directly handle by Tesla. Unlike this RM500k fake Lotus
It was funny how this Lotus Eletre is cheaper by half of the price of the Lotus Emira which cost RM 1.2M. Meanwhile in UK the price of Emira is cheaper than this Eletre. ┐(￣ー￣)┌
That is because the Eletre enjoy’s tax-free incentive being an EV. The Emira tax-free pricing is 450k, which is cheaper than the Eletre.
I oso like lotus flower soup
No surprise. Just look at the price. For the same amount, u can get cliche cars like E class, 5 series, Audi A6. Might as well just go for the looker and get Lotus instead. One thing for sure is the handling’s gonna be quite superb.
Pls scrap cars above 20yrs for better environment
so pay rm 700k for a glorified proton