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Lotus electric sedan due in 2023 to take on Porsche Taycan

Mon, Apr 18 2022

Lotus took a massive step towards the mainstream when it released the Eletre (pictured above), an electric crossover developed with volume in mind. It will continue walking in this direction by launching its first sedan, and a recent report suggests the model will be aimed at the Porsche Taycan. Known as the Type 133 internally, and referred to as a four-door coupe, the sedan will join the firm's portfolio of so-called "lifestyle" EVs. It will borrow some styling cues from the Eletre (pictured above) but it won't be merely a scaled-down crossover. "There has to be some continuity and family identity," explained Peter Horbury, Lotus' senior vice president of design, in an interview with British magazine Autocar. "Families aren't made up entirely of triplets or quadruplets. Every member of a family can have their own character," he added. While the Type 133 — a name that won't make the leap to production; the Eletre was called Type 132 — won't be as basic as, say, an Elise, it will be positioned as a driver's car. Gavan Kershaw, Lotus' director of attributes and product integrity, told Autocar that the engineering team benchmarked the Porsche Taycan during the Eletre's development process and the lessons learned will be applied to the Type 133. Like its taller sibling, the sedan should feature a long list of technology features, including an air suspension system and rear-wheel steering. Powertrain specifications haven't been released yet, but the fact that the Eletre and the Type 133 will be closely related underneath the sheet metal gives us some idea of what to expect. Power for the first Lotus crossover comes from a pair of electric motors that zap the four wheels with around 600 horsepower. The battery pack's capacity checks in at over 100 kilowatt-hours, and an 800-volt electrical architecture enables fast-charging technology. Lotus pegs the Eletre's maximum driving range at 373 miles on the testing cycle used in Europe. It's reasonable to assume that the sedan, which should be lighter and more aerodynamic, should be capable of going further on a charge. Lotus is expected to unveil the Type 133 in 2023. The model will be built alongside the Eletre in Wuhan, China. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lotus Eletre configurator welcomes virtual tire kickers

Sun, Apr 17 2022

The Lotus Eletre configurator is ready to be toyed with. There aren't that many customization options to play with, but the total experience is quite fun. The exterior palette consists of seven colors. The odd bit is that, try what browser we may, we couldn't get the names of those seven colors to appear anywhere. The menu looks like black, green, red, yellow, and three shades of silver, but clicking the latter three reveals what looks like a metallic silver, a flat gray, and a rose-tinted-something. Same with the interior, which comes in green, black, white, or beige. All but black result in a two-tone cabin. Things are much easier when it comes to wheels. The floral petal rims either come in all black or black with polished accents, the center caps are either Lotus yellow or black, and the calipers are either yellow, red, green, black, or charcoal.  For those of you unsure about the Eletre's looks, the well stocked Animations, Beautyshots, and Environments sections could get you on board with the styling — it did for us; a red Eletre under a cosmopolitan setting spoke to us in a way the yellow debut model did not. A couple of notes, though. Choose your colors in one of the Environments; the ambient lighting in the Beautyshots changes the vehicle lighting like in real life, turning the bright yellow calipers into a dusty gray in one instance, for example. The animations that show off features like the aero shutters in the grille and the active rear spoiler need a couple of clicks to perform. And again, just like in real life, the Eletre only does what you tell it; if you leave the hatch up in the Boot animation then click the Spoiler or Front Left Door, the boot stays up. Click to a city environment with the driver's door and hatch open and you'll be crystal clear as to what the Eletre looks at the end of a shopping run, a feature we've never seen in a configurator before. You have your mission and your cautions, now go play. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2017 Lotus Evora 400 Review | Autoblog

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk and a Final Four of automakers | Autoblog Podcast #723

Fri, Apr 1 2022

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. We start out with news on the Lotus Eletre and Ferrari Purosangue. These two high-end crossovers are followed by discussions about the new inline-six engines from Stellantis and an overabundance of Hummer EV orders. Next we try something we've never tried before: ranking automaker blue bloods. We took inspiration from the current NCAA tournament, which features Duke, North Carolina, Villanova and Kansas — very much traditional blue-blood basketball programs — to name our Final Four automakers. Let us know if you agree or disagree with our picks and what your definition of a blue blood car brand is. We wrap up with a discussion about the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk that Jeremy's been driving all week. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #723 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Lotus Eletre Ferrari Purosangue Stellantis inline-six Hummer EV orders Cars we're driving Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green Podcasts Ferrari Hummer Jeep Lotus Crossover SUV Electric Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance

Lotus Eletre opens a new front in electric SUVs

Tue, Mar 29 2022

Ladies and gentlemen, the new era of Lotus as an EV maker begins with this, the Eletre. It takes elements we've seen on the Evija battery-electric hypercar and Emira ICE sports car, wraps them in a larger package, jacks them up, and throws in a lot of new tech for the brand and the market. Let's start with size, which is the easy bit. The Eletre is 201 inches long on a 118.9-inch wheelbase, about 79 inches wide, and 64 inches high. Every one of those dimensions puts the Lotus within a couple of inches of the Aston Martin DBX: the EV being a little longer, with a slightly shorter wheelbase, a little wider, and a roof a couple of inches lower. For us, the side view most closely represents the form we had in mind based on recent spy shots. The front is intense, the yellow of the hero car making the greatest contrast with the polygonal void below. The lights above the leading edge are DRLs and turn signals, the main beams are recessed into that void, hugging the upper edge. The rear, with its Lotus script and full-width light bar fading into triangular intakes along the sides, clearly comes from the sports cars. It can glow in four colors depending on what it needs to communicate, and forms a connection with the light bar across the instrument panel. The SUV proportions and black roof are still playing tricks with our eyes, though; we can't help feeling the Eletre carries its bulk up high. The wheels are an optional set of 23-inchers that hide optional 10-piston (ten!) calipers gripping ceramic composite rotors. Lotus isn't ready to divulge specific battery capacity and motor outputs between those wheels. All we're told is the pack is more than 100 kWh and output starts at 600 horsepower. Every Eletre is all-wheel-drive, with a motor on each axle. The 800-volt electrical architecture can handle up to 350-kW fast-charging, 20 minutes at a station at that charge rate restoring 248 WLTP miles of the Eletre's estimated 373-mile range in WLTP testing. EPA numbers will come eventually. Lotus says the hauler will get to 62 miles per hour in under 3 seconds and hit a top speed of 161 mph. The electronic side mirror housings each contain three cameras, one camera for the rear views, one to help stitch a 360-degree overhead view, and one to help enable self-driving. The charge port is on the front left fender, but keen eyes might notice more shutlines atop the front wheel arches.

Lotus Eletre electric SUV reveal: Tune in today at 2:30 p.m Eastern

Mon, Mar 28 2022

The upcoming electric Lotus SUV formerly known as the Type 132 officially has a name. It will be called the Lotus Eletre, and the vehicle’s full reveal is today, Tuesday, March 29. For those curious, Lotus says that Eletre means “coming to life” in some Eastern European languages. If you want to pronounce it properly, Lotus provides the phonetic spelling: “El-etra.” Basically, the "e" at the end is to be pronounced as an "a." Beyond the name announcement, Lotus doesnÂ’t have anything extra to share with us today. The name itself was revealed in a dramatic fashion, as a specially-made yellow cube containing the car was piloted up and down the River Thames in central London. Boats and cars being in the same news story as of late havenÂ’t always been for good reasons, but thankfully, this one seems to have gone just fine. If you want to watch the reveal live, make sure to tune in here at 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. WeÂ’ll have the live stream in this post waiting to start, so you can check back in right here at reveal time.

Lotus Type 132 gets another teaser in before debut

Thu, Mar 24 2022

Lotus has teased the Type 132 for what could be the final time before the battery-electric crossover debuts next Tuesday, March 29. Swinging for the fences with a special guest star that would help forestall the inevitable discord about Lotus making what will be a weighty crossover, Lotus enlisted Clive Chapman, son of company founder and legend Colin. Clive mentions Colin keeping a practical family car in addition to some variety of orthodox Lotus sports car, and says he thinks his father would have loved the chance to design something like the Type 132. Perhaps it's true. Yet, although Clive mentions practicality and towing and farming and a popular explosion of four-wheel-drive vehicles in the 1970s, Colin is never shown with one in the video. The best Colin does for practical is a Lotus Eclat, which everyone, even today, would likely accept as Lotus' version of a family car.  The video does offer one unquestionably honest bit, which is a silhouette of the Type 132. It's going to be sharp and racy, no doubt about that, and we like the look of it. Separate to the video, additional honest views of the Type 132 have been uncovered in another set of patent images. The Australian patent office let slip renderings of the CUV's exterior early this month, Spanish outlet Cochespias landed on images of the interior placed with a different patent office. They show some expected EV features like a flat floor and a two-level center tunnel with a floating console up top. They show us some expected luxury features like shapely and powered front sport seats, powered rear seats, and a full-width climate control vent design in front. They show some unexpected inclusions like a what appears to be a giant glove box door, and rear seat surfaces that could be a toss-up for comfort — but of the shut lines are accurate, those seats fold down in ways to make the most of the load bay. There's a large infotainment screen that allegedly lies flat on the instrument panel when not in use. And note what might be two cupholders on the center console, one of which might be tiny.  The slim extensions on the exterior views from earlier this month weren't just conceptual. The door panel in the interior renderings shows a blank square ahead of a speaker that should be a screen displaying the feed from the side camera. If anything, the only thing the drawings leave out is how long the vehicle appears to be, based on spy shots of the Type 132 testing in China last month.

Lotus Emira First Edition starts at $85,900

Mon, Mar 21 2022

Last October, Lotus priced the Emira V6 First Edition at $93,900 before destination and taxes. That coupe comes with a Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter supercharged six-cylinder making 400 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque when fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox, or 317 lb-ft when fitted with a six-speed automatic. Now, the automaker's finally put numbers to the Emira First Edition with the AMG-sourced four-cylinder; it makes 360 hp and 310 lb-ft and costs $85,900 before incidentals. The MSRP is $8,000 less than the forerunner, but $3,000 more than the standard series Emira V6. Copying the template of the Emira V6 First Edition, the four-pot throws in a bunch of extra gear at no cost. The Lower Black Pack, Drivers Pack, Design Pack, and Convenience Pack are included. Twenty-inch diamond-cut two-tone wheels are standard, but silver or gloss black finishes are no-cost options, as are brake calipers in either black, red, silver, or yellow. All the mod-cons in the Emira V6 are here in the Emira, from the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 10.25-inch infotainment screen to the climate control, navigation, and 340-watt KEF audio. Six exterior colors include Dark Verdant, Hethel Yellow, Magma Red, Nimbus Grey, Seneca Blue, and Shadow Grey. The interior offers seven hues, four in various leather shades and three in Alcantara with contrasting stitching. The meat of the matter is that inline-four bought from Germany. Lotus said the AMG M139 motor's been tuned at Hethel for the Emira, its hardware and software tweaked for placement in the middle of the vehicle and to provide a proper Lotus experience. The exhaust is also a Lotus design. It's mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that's also seen English revision for work in a rear-wheel-drive sports car.  The only way to tell the Emira apart from the Emira V6 would be to get close enough examine the engine cover or read the badge on the C-Pillar. Perhaps handling or exhaust tuning will put them farther apart, but the initial performance specs don't. The Emira is 0.1 second slower to 60 miles per hour than the Emira V6, and maxes out 4 mph short of the Emira V6's 180-mph top speed. That's not a lot of daylight for an $8,000 price difference. The configurator is up now, so shoppers can make up their own minds.

Lotus Type 132 electric crossover leaked in patent images

Tue, Mar 8 2022

Lotus is preparing to merge into the mainstream by releasing an electric crossover called Type 132. While we won't see the model in the metal until late in March 2022, a series of images leaked out of a patent office have prematurely revealed its exterior design. Discovered by Motor1, the renderings appeared on the website for the Australian patent and trademark office, IP Australia. They're attributed to Wuhan Lotus Cars Co., which is the new division in charge of developing the company's so-called "premium lifestyle" models. What immediately stands out is that the Type 132 — a code-name that most likely won't appear on the production model — looks nothing like the current or past members of the Lotus range; it's not merely a reshaped Emira or a stretched Elise on silts. Its unusual proportions match what we've seen in earlier spy shots, and distinctive styling cues like the thin light bar that stretches across the hatch also appeared in official preview images released by Lotus. Fully electric, the Type 132 is characterized by a short front end fitted with angular headlights, a relatively long wheelbase, and a roof line that's low and rakish; it certainly tilts more towards sport than towards utility. At first glance, the overall design looks less pure than what we're used to seeing from Lotus, though we'll need to wait until the model makes its official debut to tell for sure. What's certain is that the people-hauler depicted in these images is completely different than the one that leaked out of a patent office in China in October 2017. Either what we saw nearly five years ago was something else entirely, or the British firm sent its design team back to the drawing board. We spot several interesting details in the patent images. Look closely, and you'll notice that the Type 132 is not fitted with conventional door mirrors; it features door-mounted cameras, like certain Audi models. And, check out that pod on the roof. While it's almost shaped like an air vent, this is not a car designed for the World Rally Championship. One possibility is that it's there to house the various sensors required to power a semi-autonomous driving system. Lotus is controlled by Geely, which also owns Volvo and Polestar, so it has access to a tremendous amount of technology. Lotus will introduce the Type 132 online on March 29, 2022, and production will begin shortly after in China.

Lotus Type 132 electric SUV previewed ahead of March 29 debut

Tue, Mar 1 2022

Lotus is about to unveil its most important and most controversial car. It will jump into the electric crossover segment when it launches a model called Type 132 internally, and it released a short video that gives us a preview of what the people-hauler looks like inside and out. Aimed at the Porsche Cayenne, among other high-riding and high-horsepower machines, the Type 132 will spearhead the British firm's entry into the mainstream; it likely won't be a high-volume model but we're betting it will become the best-selling Lotus. The preview video reveals a handful of styling cues, like a light bar that stretches across the rear end, and it confirms that the cabin will offer a long list of tech features. Drivers will face a digital instrument cluster and a meaty steering wheel with backlit buttons and a pair of shift paddles, though it's too early to tell what purpose they'll serve. We know that the Type 132 — a name which won't be retained for production — will be entirely electric so the paddles will very likely not be connected to a gearbox. Both are labeled "+" and they may be used to adjust the level of regenerative braking. If that's the case, then odds are there's also a "-" symbol on each paddle that's hidden from view in the 1:12-long teaser video (shown above). Lotus Type 132 preview View 4 Photos Spy shots taken in China in February 2022 suggest that the Type 132 will tilt more towards the sporty side of the crossover scale; Lotus isn't interested in rivaling, say, the Mercedes-Benz GLS in terms of passenger and cargo space. The sheet metal will hide a modular platform called Evolution Architecture, and the crossover will reach 60 mph from a stop in under three seconds in its most powerful configuration thanks in part to a dual-motor powertrain. It will be interesting to find out how Lotus, whose founder's now-famous motto was "simplify, then add lightness," will offset the lithium-ion battery pack's significant weight. Lightweight materials, like carbon fiber, will certainly play a role. Lotus will introduce the Type 132 online on March 29, and production will start shortly after in a new facility located in Wuhan, China. Looking ahead, the company plans to continue its model offensive by releasing a four-door sedan that's called Type 133 and tentatively due out in 2023, a second SUV known as Type 134 that we should see in 2025, and a sports car dubbed Type 135 that will make its debut in 2026.

Last Lotus Elise delivered to the person it was named after

Fri, Feb 25 2022

Lotus just made an announcement on its social media channels that the last customer-bound Elise has been built — we'll note that Lotus built the very last Elise for itself — and delivered to its final customer, Elisa Artioli. If you havenÂ’t heard of her before, itÂ’s time for a little Lotus history lesson. Back when the Elise came to fruition and was released in 1996, Romano Artioli was the companyÂ’s chairman. When it came time to finalize a name for the two-seat sports car, Romano looked to his granddaughter, Elisa, for inspiration.  For those who find full-circle stories satisfying, itÂ’s hard to get any better than this one. The Elise youÂ’re looking at here is the final customer-bound Elise in the world, and itÂ’s going to none other than the woman who the car is named after. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. As for the spec of the car itself, this is an Elise Sport 240, and itÂ’s painted in “Championship Gold.” The Sport 240 features a 1.8-liter supercharged four-cylinder thatÂ’s good for 240 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. Weighing only 2,033 pounds, itÂ’s capable of a 4.1-second 0-60 mph sprint and has a top speed of 147 mph. What a lovely story! WeÂ’ve asked Lotus for more photos and additional information, and weÂ’ll update when we hear back.