2012 Lotus Evora 2+2 Semi-automatic 2-door Coupe on 2040-cars

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Lotus Eletre opens a new front in electric SUVs

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.

Xcar tosses the Lotus Evora 400 around in the rain

Lotus appears to be blooming again after a rocky period, and the company is launching the Evora 400 here in December for $89,900. Xcar just got a hold of one of these updated coupes on a rainy day to find out if it can be a Porsche competitor. With 400 horsepower, the aptly named Evora 400 tops the Porsche Cayman GT4 by 15 ponies, and with a purported sprint to 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds, the Lotus also nudges out the Porsche by a tenth of a second. So on paper, the two coupes are quite comparable. Of course, Xcar also digs deep into more subjective factors, like how it actually feels behind the wheel. If you think you prefer a little more wind in your hair, the company is developing an Evora 400 roadster, too. Rather than an actual droptop, the roof will reportedly consist of two, removable carbon-fiber panels. It'll arrive on these shores in the coming years as part of Lotus' re-emergence.

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

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.