Lotus’s first SUV beats the Lamborghini Urus and is a lot cheaper

A few years ago, car connoisseurs would have called you crazy if you had said that Lotus would one day become an SUV manufacturer. But that has recently been the case and his first SUV, the Lotus Eletre, is certainly no cat piss. The first took place behind the wheel of the Lotus SUV and the Lamborghini Urus can wet its chest.

The Urus was the first SUV from sports car manufacturer Lamborghini and is now its most popular model. We also saw that at Aston Martin with the DBX and years ago at Porsche, who stayed afloat with the Cayenne. Ferrari headquarters haven’t thought about it for a long time. A Ferrari SUV would never come. Here’s what’s left of that promise.

Lotus Eletre breaks with the past

The demand for SUVs is too great. Cars on high legs simply enjoy great popularity and so sports car manufacturers break with the past to guarantee their raison d’être. At Lotus it goes even further. The British brand is known for light-footed sports cars. The new, obese Lotus Eletre is at odds with that.

We’re not saying these ungainly SUVs can’t move fast. The high-performance version of the Lamborghini Urus sprints from 0 to 100 in just 3.3 seconds. Not bad for a beast of almost 2.2 tons. The specifications are comparable to the 725 hp Ferrari Purosangue.

From 0 to 100 km/h in 2.99 seconds

All the better that the Lotus Eletre claims to be able to do this sprint in less than 3 seconds. Automakers often make empty promises, but it’s now proven that it’s no boast. At the Shanghai Auto Show, the first lucky winners were able to put the Lotus Eletre through its paces. The measurement technology showed that the large SUV could accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 2.99 seconds.

The difference is that where the Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayenne (S and GT) and Aston Martin DBX are powered by V8 engines (and the Purosangue even has a V12), the Lotus Eletre is electric. The most powerful variant, the Eletre R, delivers no less than 919 hp and 985 Nm of torque.

Relatively cheap

Another difference can be found if you ask about the price. The standard version starts in the Netherlands at under a ton and the Eletre S at 124,000 euros. However, the two electric motors in these versions “only” produce 613 hp. You spend at least 154,000 euros on the super-fast top model. Still a pittance compared to the Urus of at least 313,000 euros or the Purosangue, for which you have to tap at least half a million.