LOTUS ELETRE WILL START AT $229,000 THANKS TO 100% TARIFFS ON CHINESE EVS
- It all comes down to tariffs as Lotus must double the price of its Eletre SUV.
- The all-electric ute is made in China and there is a 100% tariff on all Chinese-made vehicles.
- The Eletre Carbon model, the first Eletre brought in to the US, will sticker for $229,000, almost double the $110,000 entry model.
After the Biden administration quadrupled down on the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, Lotus had no choice but to raise the price of its all-electric, Chinese-made hyper-SUV the Eletre.
As a direct result of the tariffs, Lotus has decided to launch its Eletre hyper-SUV into the US market in a new, ultra-high trim level called Carbon. The model is slathered in carbon-fiber trim pieces and sports a starting sticker price of $229,000 (not including destination). That’s nicer than simply doubling the cost of the brute-ute to match the cost of the tariffs.
It will arrive in showrooms in Q1 of 2025.
Lower trim levels of the Eletre may arrive sometime next year, though there’s no guarantee of that. Those would include the base model, expected to sticker for around $110,000, the S, and the R. But that depends on what happens with the tariffs.
In an election year, when you want the backing of US automakers and the UAW, and you want to show China it can’t subsidize its auto industry to the detriment of the rest of the carmakers in the world, tariffs make sense, especially for those running for office who need to carry Michigan.
“There is a lot of uncertainty on the way these tariffs will be implemented,” said the new President of Lotus USA, Max Trantini. “They are not implemented yet, as you know very well. So we are working with our government relationship team in order to see whether we can get some exemption in the future.”
Whether they get an exemption or not, Trantini thinks the price will be acceptable to Eletre buyers.
“We believe that in that segment, our customer is not very price-sensitive,” he explained. “So we thought that was the best way to mitigate all the risk and be, in the same time, compliant.”
Lotus did not say exactly where all the carbon fiber goes in the compliant Eletre Carbon, except to say that it was “used throughout.” The model also gets three new colors of leather—black, light grey, and dark brown from supplier Bridge of Weir—as well as “dynamic quilting.” Eletre Carbon buyers can order optional 10-piston carbon ceramic brakes as well.
The rest of the specs of the Eletre remain promising. It was developed on the all-new Electric Premium Architecture (EPA), a platform used by Lotus alone, the maker said. Advanced aluminium alloys account for 43% of the platform and 50.7% of the complete body structure, Lotus said. They are combined with high- and ultra-high-strength steels, together with hot-formed steels to reinforce the A- and B-pillars and enhance crash protection.
A lightweight composite is used to form part of the rear floor. A total of 16 different advanced joining technologies are used throughout, including structural adhesives, self-piercing rivets, flow-drilled screws, spot welding, and laser welding.
“Advanced materials deliver the high torsional stiffness and light weight that are fundamental to Lotus dynamics DNA,” the carmaker said. “This approach delivers an overall weight saving of 10% on the complete body structure.”
The front/rear dual-motor powertrain of the Carbon model peaks at 905 hp and 726 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0-60 mph time of under three seconds and a top speed of 165 mph.
It’s a promising platform and a promising powertrain, one that will find its way into other Lotii. The four-door hyper GT Emeya sedan, which is scheduled to come out after the Eletra, should match its specs. But we don’t know when that model is coming.
“Emeya we are also considering, but for the moment, we kept it on hold until we have developed and implement the strategy for Eletra,” Trantini said.
Meanwhile, the two-seater internal combustion-engined Emira sports car has been setting sales records all year. It’s the best-selling Lotus ever, Trantini said. It’s also the last Lotus with an internal combustion engine. After that, Lotus will be all-electric.
“The V6 automatic (Emira) is coming,” Trantini said. “After that, the turbo four-cylinder from AMG coupled with the DCT (dual-clutch transmission). We presented this a few days ago to our dealers. They were absolutely thrilled. We are planning to keep this car in the market at least until 2026.”
How about the Evija? With 2011 hp, 1257 lb ft of torque you don’t bother measuring 0-60 times. Instead, Lotus says the Evija electric hypercar will go 0-186 mph in 9.2 seconds.
“We Introduced that car in U.S. with three units last year, Trantini said. “We will reintroduce it starting in Q4 of this year. We are going to sell it exclusively within our bespoke program (Lotus Chapman Bespoke, which is coming to the U.S. “soon”).
Lotus Chapman Bespoke is all about customization.
“This division of the brand specializes in creating highly personalized, custom-made luxury vehicles,” Lotus said. “It offers customers the opportunity to commission their own unique Lotus, with a wide range of customization options including custom badges and trims, to complete one-off personalization of an entire vehicle.”
And finally, the $1.2 million Type 66 faux Can-Am race car is still in play. “It is something we are considering. We are selling it in a very few units.”
But the future of Lotus is electricity, and as long as they’re made in China, and as long as U.S. politicians have to please American carmakers and the UAW and want to bash China, things are going to be tough on Lotus.
“We are very conscious that there are a lot of challenges in the market,” said Trantini. “This is a very tough time for all the automakers. So we are very humble, and we know that we have to work very hard. But I'm Italian, and we like to have a metaphor of cooking. We have all the ingredients to make a perfect plate, the perfect dish. Now it's time to make it, to put the whole ingredients together and make it and make it happen. So we believe that now it's all the, let's say all the elements are there. We need to execute properly.”
And maybe hire a lobbyist to do something about those tariffs.
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