Lotus Emeya
Second ‘tricky’ EV album for Lotus proves to be anything but
IF the Lotus Eletre SUV was the warm-up act for the brave new EV-only world the car maker is heading towards, the more sporting and much more focused Emeya is very much the headliner.
Based on the underpinnings of its SUV sibling, but with an extra dose of style, a far sleeker five-door coupé bodyshell and a sharper range of dynamics, the Emeya is a credible rival for the Porsche Taycan.
In S guise it costs £101,950 and comes with 604bhp and 710Nm, courtesy of a 112kWh battery that powers a pair of electric motors. That means it’s priced to compete with a Taycan 4S, but offers performance not that far shy of a Turbo. And if you want the full hyperspace experience, there’s always the Emeya R (£129,950), which has 905bhp and 985Nm, can hit 62mph in just 2.8 seconds, and keep pace with almost any car you’d care to line it up against in a straight line.
The tech contained within the Emeya is right at the cutting edge, with an 800-volt architecture capable of charging the car from 10-80 per cent in just 18 minutes. A 22kW AC charger takes 5.5 hours to fill to 100 per cent, providing a combined WLTP range of 379 miles – a figure that extends to a claimed 408 miles during city driving.
Its navigation system has been designed so the car knows where the charging points are along your route, enabling you to reach your destination quickly and efficiently. The system pre-conditions the battery, reducing potential wait times and making longer drives less stressful. Range anxiety simply shouldn’t exist in the Emeya.
There are some great design touches, helping to elevate the Emeya to an extremely high level for perceived build quality. It feels like a genuine luxury product, with great seats, high-class fabrics, a high-end stereo, a brilliant new central touchscreen, and enough analogue switches to keep traditionalists happy. The main display measures 15.1 inches and is more intuitive than most. The optional camera ‘mirrors’ are not so slick; we never quite acclimatised to them, although they shave 118mm from the car’s width.
There are five different drive modes: Range, Tour, Sport, Individual and Track. These are accessed via the right paddle shifter and alter the throttle, steering and dampers. The left paddle alters the strength of the regenerative braking.
It feels strange to begin with, swapping between drive and braking modes on what you initially think are gearshift paddles. But as with much of the Emeya’s tech, you get used to it and end up changing modes more often than you otherwise would.
We drove both versions extensively, and although the R model impressed to begin with, we thought the S was sweeter overall – and not just because it costs £28k less.
No, we preferred the S because its ride and handling feel even more natural – even more Lotus, if you will – beside the sharper but more aggressive R. The S isn’t as bombastic as the flagship when you deploy full power, lacking the more expensive version’s ‘where’s-my-face-gone?’ factor in a straight line. But in most respects it feels more fluid and better balanced, with more analogue responses to its steering and brakes (steel not carbon, unlike the R’s) and a more linear power delivery. In any case, the S is still quick, even if it lacks the R’s party tricks.
Elsewhere, space inside the Emeya is excellent, with acres of legroom in the back and a lot more headroom than you’d expect – thanks largely to the flatter battery pack. The boot can be extended from 426 litres in optional four-seat configuration to 509 litres in standard, five-seat guise. You can even fold the seats flat to reveal an impressive 1,388-litre load bay.
“The S lacks the R’s ‘where’s-my-facegone?’ factor, but it’s better balanced”