There’s a seismic shift coming for Lotus — and it’s coming sooner than you might have expected.
We’ve been talking about it as the “Type 132” for the past few months, but now it’s actually coming to fruition. Naturally, that won’t be its production name — instead, Lotus’ first SUV will be the “Eletre”. That’s pronounced “Elet-ra”, with an “a” sound at the end. The automaker just put up a teaser today, but we’ll know much more about the SUV tomorrow, March 29.
Lotus says the name means “coming to life” in some Eastern European languages, though they don’t specify which ones. “Életre keltik” is a fairly close translation from Hungarian, for those (like me) who are curious.
So, what do we know about it so far? We have some idea what it will look like, as well as the “Evolution” platform the Eletre will ride on. We should see a dual-motor configuration on offer, possibly in excess of 700 horsepower. At least, that sort of performance would keep the Lotus Eletre in line with a Tesla Model X and Rivian R1S. Likewise, the company should also fit a battery pack with a 100-kWh capacity, or possibly greater.
At the moment, there are not too many technical details, and Lotus didn’t shed any more light on its new EV just yet. Fortunately, we don’t have too much longer to wait. Lotus will debut the Eletre at 2:30 PM ET tomorrow, and if the name reveal is anything to go by — the automaker sent out a special boat down the River Thames in London Monday — it may well be a dramatic reveal.
While the automaker will continue building sports cars in Hethel, Norfolk, it will build its EVs at a factory in Wuhan, China.
