What's all this about?

Lotus, launching its third electric vehicle (EV) in the form of what it calls a 'hyper-GT'. It's the Emeya, the company's first-ever four-door luxury vehicle in this form, and it's due to go on sale in 2024.

What's a hyper-GT, when it's at home?

Think a car squarely eyeing up the likes of the Tesla Model S Plaid, the Lucid Air Sapphire, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and the Audi RS e-tron GT, and you get the picture. Lotus likes the prefix 'hyper', too, because it describes the Emeya's notably low centre-of-gravity as 'hyperstance'.

Sounds like a '90s dance act. What else do we know about the other technical aspects of it?

There's active aero for the front grille, rear diffuser and rear spoiler, all aimed with giving the Emeya the sort of glorious ride-and-handling balance that you'd expect of a classic Lotus, never mind a four-door EV. Power isn't explicitly stated yet, but Lotus is happy to admit the Emeya is going to be capable of in excess of 155mph, as well as 0-62mph in 'less than 2.8 seconds'. So, going by the company's first two EVs - the Evija hypercar and the Eletre SUV - these numbers rather suggest the Emeya will get the circa-900hp/985Nm powertrain as seen in the Eletre R flagship electric SUV, rather than that vehicle's 603hp entry-level propulsion. It would also be reasonable to assume the Emeya will use the same 112kWh battery pack as all models of the Eletre, and not the 70kWh unit from the 2,000hp Evija, as a handful of charging stats suggest you'll get 93 miles of additional range in the battery in just five minutes at the car's maximum charging rate, while an 80 per cent re-juice will be in the order of 18 minutes. That's at 350kW DC, incidentally, so the Emeya is going to be an 800-volt architecture, like the Evija and Eletre, as well as its Audi and Porsche key rivals.

Sounds excellent, but what's the one-shot driving range?

That's not been confirmed as yet. The Eletre can go up to a quoted 373 miles on a single charge of its 112kWh battery pack, but that's a figure reserved for one of the 603hp models, not the 900hp R. Still, Lotus claims 309 miles for the Eletre R, so with a lower, more aerodynamic and, presumably, lighter body than the SUV, a comfortable 310-mile-plus range ought to be possible for the Emeya. Otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a GT, now would it?

Good point. And I presume it's all made of flax and seaweed inside?

Right, we see what you're getting at, but... not quite. There are plenty of sustainable materials used, though, within the build of the Emeya, including a fabric woven from repurposed fibres from the fashion industry, yet the car's plenty high-tech enough within the passenger compartment - a top-end KEF sound system with Dolby Atmos-enabled 3D surround sound that, it is claimed, will 'elevate music listening to new levels'.

Matt Robinson - 8 Sep 2023