Lotus has set a date for the presentation of its first high-performance electric sedan. It will be released on September 7 to steal part of the market from the leaders of this niche. Lotus has undergone a radical change since its acquisition by the Chinese group Geely. Its new DNA reflects the desire to remove the British firm from that status that placed it as a brand for purists and turn it into a rival to Porsche (and, incidentally, Tesla). The first sign of this new stage came with the transformation of the Type 132 into what we now know as the Lotus Eletre, an electric SUV of colossal dimensions. A year after its launch, it reached the European market with three mechanical variants at prohibitive prices.
Two others joined this first project. The Type 133 would be an electric sedan in the E segment, a rival to the Porsche Taycan with a launch date scheduled for 2024. The Type 134 will be another electric SUV, this one in the D segment, which was presented as a future rival to the Porsche Macan in 2025.
Now, finally, the brand gives a new name to Type 133, which will officially be called Emeya and which already has a presentation date: September 7 in New York (it will not be at the Munich Motor Show). It will be a four-door electric sedan that the brand refers to as “hyper-GT”. This nomenclature maintains the firm’s long tradition of beginning the names of many of its models with the letter E (Eletre, Evija, Emira, Esprit, Excel, Evora, Elise…)
The announcement is accompanied by a teaser video in which some of the design features of this car can be discerned. Although mostly covered in shadows that hide the most important details, you can see the new two-stage lighting signature at the front and a continuous strip of lights at the rear with an active spoiler.
If its saloon format is distinguished, the brand has not returned to work since the collaboration with Opel that gave rise to the Lotus Carlton. With this, Lotus intends to fight with the Porsche Taycan and the Tesla Model S, although, for now, no specific details about its performance have been revealed.
It is to be expected that much of its hardware will be shared with that of the Eletre since it is based on the same platform known as EPA (Electric Premium Architecture) closely linked to other Geely platforms. The basic version of the electric SUV includes a 112 kWh battery that offers up to 600 km of range in the WLTP cycle. It drives an AWD (all-wheel drive) system with two motors developing 450 kW (603 hp) and 710 Nm of torque. The 0 to 100 km/h is achieved in a very respectable 4.5 seconds.
A higher performance variant is also expected, capable of reaching 675 kW (905 hp) and 985 Nm of torque. This Eletre R, whose propulsion system is similar, reaches 100 km/h in just 2.95 seconds, although range is the one that suffers from this excess power, staying at 490 km.
From the spy photos that have been published, it can be assumed that the Emeya will have very aerodynamic shapes, with a leaning-back body, which tries to reduce the drag coefficient to a minimum. Slim rear-view cameras instead of mirrors will help avoid unnecessary eddies, further improving efficiency within the capabilities of such a powerful vehicle.
Inside, the design won’t differ much from the Eletre’s either, though some rumors suggest an infotainment system with screens stretching across the dash that could come with a few updates. To confirm all these speculations, we will have to wait until September 7, the date chosen by the brand to show the Emeya EV inside, outside, and below. The commercialization will start already in 2024.
