The real question is, is Lotus still Lotus??? Coz Im not seeing any of it. Its geely tfying to use lotus brand as way to upmarket it. It has all this chinese vibe all over it making it not a car but appliance. There will be talks about it but not stories to share. Kind of that feeling
You could say that about LOTS of car brands these days. Jag's aren't Jags, MG's aren't MG's, Porsche & Lambos' are owned by VW; the list goes on and on...I stopped caring years ago! At the end of the day you either like it, or you don't, it's for you, or it isn't (IMO!) This will likely be quite cheap (comparatively) to lease, and even better to buy used in a few years after depreciation.
It is this type of thinking which meant Lotus came to the brink of disappearing. So called ‘fans’ do not want any change. Lotus needs to move on. And it is doing it.
Well, it's a Geeley with a Lotus badge on it... so if you have to ask that question, you haven't been paying attention. The whole idea here is to get Westerners to pay European car money for a Chinese product. The irony is, the Chinese product is actually better than the European equivalent in a lot of ways... Whatever you think of that - you have to admit, it's a pretty clever way of upping your margins... Still I'd rather buy an honest Chinese car at honest Chinese car prices.
@@vincentcheng7313 Well, depends on where it is being imported, and if it has been imported legally. On something like a car - yeah, it'll be clear where it is made in most western countries, if you bother to look.
Basically a Chinese company has bought the rights to the Lotus brand name and they're launching luxury electric vehicles which bear absolutely no resemblance to Lotus whatsoever. Lotus have never made 'luxury' vehicles. They're good looking cars but just not loyal or true to the name. Not for me.
You're right about Lotus' typical class of cars but they've actually been Chinese owned since 2017. This change in strategy sorta makes sense. They need money to build more sports cars. And even though the Emira isn't exactly your classic Lotus, it does demonstrate that they're not just going to abandon sports cars entirely. And there's the Evija as well. But I do understand where you're coming from.
@@TD1237Oh I'm sure this move makes perfect sense economically. But an accountant making a clever decision isn't gonna make me want to buy their car. Because now all Lotus is is a name stuck on to the front an appliance. It may not be a bad appliance technically. But personally I've never really felt any passion or affection for my toaster.
These cars had to be done. Lotus basically had no choice. They were losing a huge amount of money year on year building the old cars. One day the "elise" may return, but they need to be making money first@MrSlowly63 .
All brands need to evolve to survive...folks were saying the same when VW group took over Lambo years ago, but do we really want an "old school pure sports car" with no power steering, an ancient 5-speed gearbox, bloodthirsty 8mpg v12 engine that has less output than a modern turbo-V6, speedometer and fuel gauge that don't work half of the time, and the worst of them all, certain models had no AC...lol no thank you
@@mtx1212 Two things: One: This here is NOT the same thing as VW buying Lambo or Bugatti or whatever. Piëch was a petrol head first and foremost and he was clever enough to keep the spirit and the people at these companies the way they were and just make them run more efficiently by sharing parts and using the economies of scale. What we're seeing with lotus is all the company's philosophy thrown out (I mean simplify and add lightness on any of their cars today? Not even slightly...) and just the name being slapped onto these appliances. Two: I totally see your point about lambos. But the simple fact is that Lambo made their name creating outrageous cars. Do you seriously think anyone would have even heard of the name Lamborghini if they had decided to make sensible, reliable, easy to drive cars? If all cars were technically flawless they would become soulless appliances. And that, I'm afraid, is exactly what we're seeing with 'Lotus' and lots of other electric cars.
I didn't watch his video so perhaps I shouldn't be too quick to talk. But surely he understood what he was buying before buying it? It was pretty obvious that the Emira was less sportscar and more GT car compared to previous Lotus models. Also, "Just a Badge" is an exaggeration. Take a look at Porsche and Jaguar and how they've changed over the years. This change in Lotus seems far less drastic, at least at this time.
@@TD1237 You're saying that Lotus changing to a Full on Heavy EV brand vs Old Lotus being a lightweight agile performance oriented car is less drastic?
@AyaxRo well clearly yes, because it's still making petrol sports cars. Jaguar don't even have an interesting car in their range anymore and porsche is turning the cayman into an ev (as well as the macan), has huge heavy SUVs and saloons (which is no different to this)
Hitler and his top man Mr F Porsche worked to make a car company to dominate, VW dream has played out. Nigel has his 1933 playbook open in Clacton… history doomed to repeat…
This comment section didn't fail! Glad people are seeing for what this car & brand is heading for. Nobody is against chinese EV blindly, yes their govt massively subsidise their vehicles & every export item. People here have problem with Geely trying to use Lotus badge history & name to sell its vehicle, thats where the problem is. Not long before people will be getting bored of such cars!
Here's the thing.... companies want to make MONEY. You can sit and argue that oh this isn't the same and that is different but guess what.... They want to make money by going mainstream. They want to play out with other companies because they understand that lotus has failed as a company for so long. Yes people buy their cars but only SPECIFIC buyers Buy them. They want to build something you can see on the roads everyday so they can make more money. It's nothing against the history of anything else because you should be mad at companies like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche for doing the same thing and people ARE! Those companies under they need a car like the urus or the cayenne or the macan because they keep the company alive. You can't ONLY survive on sports cars and super cars. The Cayenne single handedly saved Porsche as a company.
I agree its not like the Lotus cars of old and doesn't match that DNA, however its good to see the Lotus name live on and making some cars like this will enable them to also make proper lightweight sports cars so I am interested in what the future holds.
This will be a stunning LEASE CAR very soon.... The Electra is already available for £650/mth when initially it was over £1,500/mth... Buying new is a fantastic way to loose 50% whilst handing the Government a ton of VAT.
One thing I have missed is how premium Lotus/Geely makes these cars feel. There are no rattles, creaks or squeaks coming anywhere (atleast for now), which is certainly not the industry standard anymore. Might feel a bit wrong to say this, but all the materials used feel a lot more premium than in an S-Class, A8 or a 7-series. Might not be as comfortable, but I would expect the top executive saloon/limo's to have less cheap plastic.
@@TD1237 I didn't know that! I know that volvo also feel like they have great interiors, but I don't have any experience with any of their other car brands that they own.
I mean.. the new M5 weighs 2.4t, so 2,5t is sadly not that obsessive. But: calibration of brakes and chassis is the thing I would buy a Lotus for. As you buy an Alfa for it's design. I like the car overall, I think it looks great. But I expected it to be the best handling or at least at par with the taycan, maybe excelling in feeling more than precision. So this is a real bummer for me. At least theoretically they could fix a lot of it via software. For me it's biggest rival is the lucid air. And from what I get from the reviews, the Air seems to be better calibrated, higher performing and even more spacious.
@@Th_exclamation_mark_s_Guy nope. I also haven't drowned before but I know it'll be a terrifying and painful experience. It's an electric car, the passion and soul of a car isn't found in numbers or efficiency. It is found in the roar of the engine, the driving dynamics and engagement. This is something that electric cars don't have cos all these things matter. It would be a good means of moving people and items from point A to B, but it will suck as a car to be excited about
I'm certain the Lucid Air GT is more than a match for this Lotus, Taycan and the rest, for performance, road dynamics , space, charging and whatever other metric that you could compare. Very surprised Rory made no reference to it, especially haven driven an Air. Finally the Tesla model S is great in a straight line but NOT good on corners.
The only thing faster than these EV’s is their depreciation and the only way to get one is when they are giving them away on a lease deal because they cant shift them.a
some interesting features, but i'm not so sure about that. and I don't think it's better looking than either the taycan or audi e-tron overall. and I'm betting it will suffer from all kinds of annoying design flaws -- see the emira.
@@sennedegroof4728 barely. people seem to love the looks but it's still missing some the touches you want from a car at that price. and notable reviewers/enthusiasts aren't hanging on to them.
I don't like it either and agree with most of the comments, but ultimately lotus wasn't a profitable business, so the business model was required to change :(
How did the “business model” change. All they had to do was make high quality and really great lightweight handling cars at a reasonable but premium price and they would have sold in bucketfuls.
I am fortunate to have my late Fathers 1971 Elan S2, I recently did a faultless 480 mile trip to Cornwall, it was comfortable quick especially on B Roads, updates on car are electric power steering, and AC. My main Car is a BMW 540i and I would have no hesitation taking the Elan on most road trip. I also owned a 2017 Evora 400 and did not upgrade to new Emira, so I am conflicted by new Lotus Range ..great review however
Thanks Rory, for a company car driver, between pricing, specs and financing options this is a more attractive proposition than a Taycan or eTron GT and after a few times, most will likely not use launch control anyway. Curious about the Lotus charging card; does that come with the car and what are the T's & C's? This is where in the UK, Porsche and Audi lose out, they give you a charging card but if you're lucky only £500 of credit at the start. If you own a Taycan or Etron GT in the US, you get lifetime free charging with EA, one has to question the disparity.
So it won't accelerate in a straight line, the brakes do emergency stops at will and it makes you feel sick. Maybe there are better ways to spend £130k. And why don't you make any mention of the range you got? The most important part of the review is missing.
What? He wasn't doing a range test so why would he mention the range he got? He clearly stated the expected range. He probably had it for a couple of hours and gave it back. And no, if you're buying a $100,000, 900HP performance vehicle, range isn't the most important part of the review. If range is your priority, get a Lucid or a Rivian.
Thank you. You are right on. No-one bitches about the Porsche Cayenne, Taycan and Macan which allow Porsche to make the 911. These old school Lotus fans would rather Lotus disappear completely than see it doing something different.
A lot of comments focus on the fact that it's not a real Lotus. I don't disagree, but what concerned me the most is the bad calibration of the power... The thing have oversteer and torque steer in a straight line ! Unacceptable for a car of this class. I don't understand how a company could be careless enough to let journalists drive a car that is so far for being properly finished on that front. If I had the money to get a fast electric saloon, I wouldn't even consider this car over it's competition.
Very good point on the digital mirrors - on a normal mirror you are focusing on a distant object, just like you do when you look out of the windscreen, so your eyes don't have to adjust. When looking at the internal screen you have to suddenly focus 2 feet in front of you, which means you're taking your eyes off the road, and also defocusing from it. Hmm.
I love it. The build quality and specially materials (which you didnt mention) are on the highest level ever (far better then in a Taycan, E-tron and specially tesla)...everything and i mean EVERYTHING is covered in leather or alcantara, even things that in Taycan are of plastic. Then it has much much much more space in the rear, then a Taycan, so it can be also a business limousine (which taycan cant be), it is a 5-door coupe, so you can also transport lets say a dog in the boot (which the competition cant, because 4-doors) and i think that the problem with the launch was, that you deactivated the ESC - in the case it yould be activated, it would handle the chasis better. And the design is breathtaking, specially in this cool yellow. I'm sure that the taycan drives better in corners (because its a Porsche and also because its smaller and lighter), but everything else is better at the Emeya. I would go with the 612 Version, which is far more then enough and get me even a little more range.
If it’s like the Eletre’s, you need to get it around 10% of charge before charging, then you can get the +300kwh charge speed, and it will continue up to about 70% charge before dropping below 250kwh
Many people criticized whether this is still a Lotus or not. Show me a 2+ tonnes electric car which corners like a true sports car. And the demand for GT is far bigger than 2 seaters. Lotus needs to survive and it can’t be possible with Emira only. Times are changing, get used to it.
Great review. The asset stripping of a nation, end of British manufacturing is nearly complete. German (EON) and French (EDF) governments supply the power for it too. The loss of the Norfolk company is a tragedy.
I came to realize that car companies which are famous for sport cars need to diversify to be able to compete in this economy and climate regulations. Im not mad at lotus if they produce their usual normal engined cars along-side these..
@@pd1596 I agree yes, although Matt seems more about entertainment than actually car/consumer reviews, nowadays. At least Autorrader is less gimmicks and more about real world Car reviews.
It seems to me that maybe the medium range maybe the best option, no need for the R model…. Did you precondition/set charger destination on satnav so car could prepare battery for best charge speed? And would have been interesting to do a 0-62 without launch control, just push pedal to floor and see if it was as wobbly…
Rory, I was in mainland China for a couple of weeks last month and saw one of these in the hotel underground parking lot, but in black and it had both Hong Kong and mainland China plates. Was impressive to look at, yet I can't shake the feeling that its a shared platform with the Zeekr 001 as they are dimensionally similar and owned by Geely as well. Great review once again. Keep them coming!
@@martynrollinson I agree and love a true wagon. I still keep one all the time. The Lotus and Zeekr are literally more than crossovers and not SUV's. The Zeekr is a true wagon. This is why I didn't purchase an A7, S7 or an RS7. My privilege and curse is that I rarely travel light. I usually carry a drum set and accessories with me on weekends. Have no desire for a SUV even though I keep a 7 passenger one as well, but not for me. . Not sure if Zeekr will arrive here in Canada. Lotus will probably show us here. Interesting times we live in.
I saw a pre-production Emeya in the gloom of a late January afternoon earlier this year in one of the villages near Hethel... It did look fantastic on the road, I gotta admit...
Living in a big city I’ve lost count of the amount of times my wing mirrors have been damaged or destroyed. Imagine the cost of replacing those cameras?
So much hate going around. I hope they sell 1 million of these so they can continue to create technology like the Evija. Then trickle the tech down into more affordable (ish) cars for consumers. Porsche did the same thing with the cayenne, but people mysteriously forget about that.
Love that people think the charging networks really offer the "max" - spent my life in telco, and when they offer you "100Mb", you'll never get that.. same in power... always expect a quarter of what you're offered. Occasionally, you might hit the max, but that's an absolute bonus!! But it's all about what the network load is... the max is just that... a max, not an average...
For all you naysayers….all manufacturers need to expand they can’t survive off just a light weight sports car in this market….look at Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche all of them expand from their core.
It makes me very happy to hear Unreal Tournament namedropped in the video. Most people seem to have forgotten the (brilliant) series that engine came from.
What a great video. Saw everything I would check myself looking at this new car. Exciting to see a few metrics that are better than Tesla, charge speed, 0-62 (as long as we don’t count the Splaid)😅 They should do a stripped out EV Lotus that weighs less than a tonne; show that their heritage has not been forgotten.
Rory, Love your reviews. You are a pleasure to listen to. However, I must object to your use of the word "Quality" at 10:30. Quality is the conformance to specs. It doesn't matter if the spec is a 20 hp Model T or a 1000 hp Bugatti. Were the parts made within the blueprint tolerances or not? Was the car assembled correctly, and within the tolerances allowed by its 'prints and specifications? That is Quality, not the impressiveness of the specifications or the tightness of the allowed tolerances.
Probably because in Europe at least, Lucid's are hard to get hold of. As are Tesla Plaids. Audi and Porsche may be more desirable but both 2025 versions will cost more than this and will likely depreciate as much, possibly even more. Significant difference, Lotus are offering in the UK at least 0% APR finance, Porsche and Audi charge for the privilege, up to 9.9%. On this value of car on a lease that is significant. Presently you can have an Eletre R for half the price monthly of a 2024 Taycan Turbo S. And the car market is moving more and more toward finance than outright ownership.
Great entertainment ❤ love the music and the location❤❤ interesting Lotus , I keep thinking front mid engine (cosworth ala GMA) ,electric motor in the transaxle , adding lightness , eliminating range anxiety, reducing battery weight maybe a capacitor as well ? 😂😂😂 dream on 😂
Regarding the slow charging at the first stop... it's almost certainly due to the (mis)measurement of the temperature... ~50C is too hot for the electronics to fully manage the battery temp (too hard to cool it / keep it in the optimum temperature), so it's the *car* that would have been limiting the charge speed... Why it thought it was ~50C however, I have no idea...
Dont get all the hate personally. Lotus has always been a niche and cool brand. I think it looks cool. Car prices definitely are stupid nowadays anyway. How they think people can afford cars that cost over £100k beggars belief. Thats a 2nd mortgage basically 🤦🏾
@@wellwonky- did you read the original post I was responding to!? My situation is proof a family person on a normal wage, doesn’t need a second mortgage to get a £100k car.
British badge, built in China, review tested in Europe. No mirrors, high weight, chinese design, so many wrongs with this car. And when I heard this guy say: multiculturalism, I just died inside. And the fake enthusiasm, oh my. Instead of focusing on what Lotus is known for, reviewer focused on screens, regen, and ambient lights. Car journalists should be held accountable for their reviews, being paid and such.
For the charger - I found that if I tell my BMW IX Sat nav that I am going to a charger I get full beans charging as it preps the battery but agree Ionity is not very reliable
Every car company is changing/evolving.. in less than a decade every Porsche Model will have a battery pack and an electric motor in it, or the company will be left behind.
@@MARCO-rq2ph I've got a car sitting in my garage with three electric motors, each one of them about the size of a watermelon, and it has a thousand horsepower. It's so efficient it also gets the equivalent of over 100 mi to the gallon. The only thing that's regressing is the way you think. Internal combustion is doomed.
Even taycan still looks like porsche, meanwhile this looking like straight out chinese ev. I know having heavyweight lotus is strange from its lightweight philosophy. But at least they could make it look like LOTUS instead of chinese ev 😢
Is this not just a Lotus-branded Geely... Also. '500litres' of boots on a boot that does not look that much bigger than a Taycan. Typical modern Lotus lies. Like when they say Evora 400 is lighter than the old Evora S. That is an empty Evora 400 compared with Evora S full with fluids. I want to love Lotus again but their horrific attitude stops me from doing so. Poor Elise, Exige and Evora.
The only "Lotus" in the new lineup is the Lotus Emira, and imo even tho its a wonderful car its still kinda a pig. Imo China's perception of Lotus is like an Aston Martin. They're turning a Driver focused car into maybe more of a touring car. It gives it more of a diverse market but it really isnt the same brand it once was.
I appreciate the sticky comment explaining the technical issues, but why rush it out? Or why make it at all? This video feels useless and disappointing. Not to dampen my appreciation for this great presenter and an overall great channel ❤
Another 'we want the Chinese market' designed car ... you look at those old Lotus, and then this monstrosity ... Perfect 'Lotus' spec ... but terrible big car spec ... makes the body look massive, and the black wheels like tiny .... poor spec not helping the terrible design much
Bit concerned about the route that lotus are taking. Going all electric for every model is a huge gamble. They should be mixing it up. People who buy lotus cars want lightweight, noise, manual gearbox, etc. I have a bad feeling they might go bump.
The only thing that shouts "Lotus" in this car is the logo...
It doesn't shout Lotus but you'll probably shout at lotus for becoming what it is now.😅
Hopefully you are correct, because that might mean that it does not break down within a week 😅
@@Stefan1968_Swe Oh come on, it's China made, we were lucky it didn't break down before the end of the video!!!
Even then it still looks like a shabby MG front end (Chinese MG that is)
I mean if geely wasnt in the picture what kind of cars would lotus be making?
The real question is, is Lotus still Lotus??? Coz Im not seeing any of it. Its geely tfying to use lotus brand as way to upmarket it. It has all this chinese vibe all over it making it not a car but appliance. There will be talks about it but not stories to share. Kind of that feeling
absolutely tacky looking front and rear
It's not simple nor light so it's not Lotus :(
You could say that about LOTS of car brands these days. Jag's aren't Jags, MG's aren't MG's, Porsche & Lambos' are owned by VW; the list goes on and on...I stopped caring years ago! At the end of the day you either like it, or you don't, it's for you, or it isn't (IMO!) This will likely be quite cheap (comparatively) to lease, and even better to buy used in a few years after depreciation.
It is this type of thinking which meant Lotus came to the brink of disappearing. So called ‘fans’ do not want any change. Lotus needs to move on. And it is doing it.
Why should Lotus just build 70 odd year old designs. As was explained they have built 4 seaters before. I had a Lotus Carlton it was brilliant.
Short answer: No
Long answer: Nope.
Well, it's a Geeley with a Lotus badge on it... so if you have to ask that question, you haven't been paying attention. The whole idea here is to get Westerners to pay European car money for a Chinese product. The irony is, the Chinese product is actually better than the European equivalent in a lot of ways... Whatever you think of that - you have to admit, it's a pretty clever way of upping your margins... Still I'd rather buy an honest Chinese car at honest Chinese car prices.
@@Beer_Dad1975 same as anything else.. a good leather bag or an LV bag... always need to pay badge tax
@@fatdoi003 Yeah, you'd kinda hope your LV bag is still made in Europe though - or at least doesn't have "Made in PRC" tags on it.
@@Beer_Dad1975don’t have the tag doesn’t mean it doesn’t make in PRC. Better get used to it
@@vincentcheng7313 Well, depends on where it is being imported, and if it has been imported legally. On something like a car - yeah, it'll be clear where it is made in most western countries, if you bother to look.
Basically a Chinese company has bought the rights to the Lotus brand name and they're launching luxury electric vehicles which bear absolutely no resemblance to Lotus whatsoever. Lotus have never made 'luxury' vehicles.
They're good looking cars but just not loyal or true to the name. Not for me.
You're right about Lotus' typical class of cars but they've actually been Chinese owned since 2017. This change in strategy sorta makes sense. They need money to build more sports cars. And even though the Emira isn't exactly your classic Lotus, it does demonstrate that they're not just going to abandon sports cars entirely. And there's the Evija as well. But I do understand where you're coming from.
@@TD1237Oh I'm sure this move makes perfect sense economically. But an accountant making a clever decision isn't gonna make me want to buy their car. Because now all Lotus is is a name stuck on to the front an appliance. It may not be a bad appliance technically. But personally I've never really felt any passion or affection for my toaster.
These cars had to be done. Lotus basically had no choice. They were losing a huge amount of money year on year building the old cars. One day the "elise" may return, but they need to be making money first@MrSlowly63 .
All brands need to evolve to survive...folks were saying the same when VW group took over Lambo years ago, but do we really want an "old school pure sports car" with no power steering, an ancient 5-speed gearbox, bloodthirsty 8mpg v12 engine that has less output than a modern turbo-V6, speedometer and fuel gauge that don't work half of the time, and the worst of them all, certain models had no AC...lol no thank you
@@mtx1212 Two things:
One: This here is NOT the same thing as VW buying Lambo or Bugatti or whatever. Piëch was a petrol head first and foremost and he was clever enough to keep the spirit and the people at these companies the way they were and just make them run more efficiently by sharing parts and using the economies of scale. What we're seeing with lotus is all the company's philosophy thrown out (I mean simplify and add lightness on any of their cars today? Not even slightly...) and just the name being slapped onto these appliances.
Two: I totally see your point about lambos. But the simple fact is that Lambo made their name creating outrageous cars. Do you seriously think anyone would have even heard of the name Lamborghini if they had decided to make sensible, reliable, easy to drive cars? If all cars were technically flawless they would become soulless appliances. And that, I'm afraid, is exactly what we're seeing with 'Lotus' and lots of other electric cars.
Harry's Garage explained Lotus's problems nicely in his video about why he sold his Emira. It's all just a badge right now.
That applies to practically every single modern car brand. Lotus is no different to everyone else
I didn't watch his video so perhaps I shouldn't be too quick to talk. But surely he understood what he was buying before buying it? It was pretty obvious that the Emira was less sportscar and more GT car compared to previous Lotus models.
Also, "Just a Badge" is an exaggeration. Take a look at Porsche and Jaguar and how they've changed over the years. This change in Lotus seems far less drastic, at least at this time.
@@TD1237 You're saying that Lotus changing to a Full on Heavy EV brand vs Old Lotus being a lightweight agile performance oriented car is less drastic?
Wager most all UK facilities/jobs will be eliminated before the decade is out.
@AyaxRo well clearly yes, because it's still making petrol sports cars. Jaguar don't even have an interesting car in their range anymore and porsche is turning the cayman into an ev (as well as the macan), has huge heavy SUVs and saloons (which is no different to this)
Porsche has nothing to worry about
Yup such a shame. Be nice to have something to be proud of built in the UK. Germany rules.
It's cool only because of that badge. To me, Lotus has become nothing but a kitchen appliance.
Meanwhile Porsche has been decimated in the biggest car market in the world 😂
Hitler and his top man Mr F Porsche worked to make a car company to dominate, VW dream has played out. Nigel has his 1933 playbook open in Clacton… history doomed to repeat…
In fact, Porsche has a lot to worry about, if you look at their sales
That's the first car review I've ever seen in my life where it made the reviewer feel car sick 😳 I love your honesty Rory, another brilliant review
Not my 1st, watch more reviews. You’ll eventually see it.
You've never seen someone drive an 80s hyper car then.
You just KNOW that sprayer system on the lidar will begin to leak all over your headliner at some point between now and way too soon.
This comment section didn't fail! Glad people are seeing for what this car & brand is heading for.
Nobody is against chinese EV blindly, yes their govt massively subsidise their vehicles & every export item.
People here have problem with Geely trying to use Lotus badge history & name to sell its vehicle, thats where the problem is.
Not long before people will be getting bored of such cars!
I think the problem is that the car simply sucks. More electric junk as far as I can tell.
Here's the thing.... companies want to make MONEY. You can sit and argue that oh this isn't the same and that is different but guess what.... They want to make money by going mainstream. They want to play out with other companies because they understand that lotus has failed as a company for so long. Yes people buy their cars but only SPECIFIC buyers Buy them. They want to build something you can see on the roads everyday so they can make more money. It's nothing against the history of anything else because you should be mad at companies like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche for doing the same thing and people ARE! Those companies under they need a car like the urus or the cayenne or the macan because they keep the company alive. You can't ONLY survive on sports cars and super cars. The Cayenne single handedly saved Porsche as a company.
130k and talking about subsidy 😂
@@Sakosagano Boxster did that actually, Cayenne made them the company with a highest profit of any car company before 2008.
The pop up Lidar and the yellow body colour makes it look like a taxi from Demolition Man
I agree its not like the Lotus cars of old and doesn't match that DNA, however its good to see the Lotus name live on and making some cars like this will enable them to also make proper lightweight sports cars so I am interested in what the future holds.
I like this car a lot, it's just a shame it has a lotus badge on it because it doesn't suit the company
You can’t survive just making a light weight sports car.
@@jasondoe5741 I just wish there was a sister company that made these cars instead of putting them under the lotus name
@@jasondoe5741 The way the market is going, you won't be able to survive making electric cars either.
I don't think the brakes would be a problem when you get used to driving an EV, just use a little regen
This will be a stunning LEASE CAR very soon.... The Electra is already available for £650/mth when initially it was over £1,500/mth...
Buying new is a fantastic way to loose 50% whilst handing the Government a ton of VAT.
Pls where did you get 650 pound lease...I will kindly take it
@MrKayzeemoschino You can't.
The lowest it can easily be found on any broker comparison is for 1k a month amortised on a 2 year 5000 mile contract.
It's £1375 in Sweden, what a steal it would be for £650
Lose
@@Darthozzan13 For the R model? Business lease or private? Seems very cheap!
One thing I have missed is how premium Lotus/Geely makes these cars feel. There are no rattles, creaks or squeaks coming anywhere (atleast for now), which is certainly not the industry standard anymore. Might feel a bit wrong to say this, but all the materials used feel a lot more premium than in an S-Class, A8 or a 7-series. Might not be as comfortable, but I would expect the top executive saloon/limo's to have less cheap plastic.
Geely seems to always do well when making interiors for premium, luxury and even mid-rage cars. No surprise. :-)
@@TD1237 I didn't know that! I know that volvo also feel like they have great interiors, but I don't have any experience with any of their other car brands that they own.
the cow got scared 😂
I mean.. the new M5 weighs 2.4t, so 2,5t is sadly not that obsessive. But: calibration of brakes and chassis is the thing I would buy a Lotus for. As you buy an Alfa for it's design. I like the car overall, I think it looks great. But I expected it to be the best handling or at least at par with the taycan, maybe excelling in feeling more than precision. So this is a real bummer for me. At least theoretically they could fix a lot of it via software. For me it's biggest rival is the lucid air. And from what I get from the reviews, the Air seems to be better calibrated, higher performing and even more spacious.
Just because there are other extremely heavy cars doesn't mean this is okay. 2.5 tonnes for a "sporty" car is bonkers.
This video feels like art. I appreciate all the effort put into it. Great work Rori and the team. Another excellent video.
Edit: Rori
Rory
@@superawesomeboy what he said 👆
@@superawesomeboy Just waiting for the op to edit again 😂
Certainly a lot more exciting an appealing than the hundreds of grey Audis and BMWs you see in every carpark
Appealing to look at? Maybe.
Appealing to experience? Nope. Not even close
Yep cos' we have a real shortage, bustle/fast/hatch/notch/bubble shaped "saloons" with no existing nice long boot!
@@0LLy796 have you ever driven that car?
@@Th_exclamation_mark_s_Guy nope. I also haven't drowned before but I know it'll be a terrifying and painful experience. It's an electric car, the passion and soul of a car isn't found in numbers or efficiency. It is found in the roar of the engine, the driving dynamics and engagement. This is something that electric cars don't have cos all these things matter. It would be a good means of moving people and items from point A to B, but it will suck as a car to be excited about
I'm certain the Lucid Air GT is more than a match for this Lotus, Taycan and the rest, for performance, road dynamics , space, charging and whatever other metric that you could compare. Very surprised Rory made no reference to it, especially haven driven an Air. Finally the Tesla model S is great in a straight line but NOT good on corners.
Lucid isn't sold in Europe, is it?
Lucid is full of creaks and looks like a soap box. A very fast capable soapbox but still. The Emeya is built more solidly.
@@jamesengland7461They are, Misha Charoudin owns one
@@jamesengland7461 You can now buy the Lucid Air in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Norway.
@Hapkin Spoken like someone who hasn't sat in a Lucid. Give me the sapphire over the rebadged Geely.
flower flaps in front look cool as hell... snow/grime/pebbles are going to OBLITERATE them...
You know or you presume? Big difference. Do you really think they didn't test it?!
@@yitzele May be not enough testing.
My first thoughts were the same. Winter driving will probably destroy them pretty quickly, but they do look cool as hell.
@@gofres In the winter there would be no need for them to open
@@-PORK-CHOP- Thank you. Some people don't think.
The only thing faster than these EV’s is their depreciation and the only way to get one is when they are giving them away on a lease deal because they cant shift them.a
It's a good EV..
But it ain't a lotus...EMIRA..!!!
I'm not a EV fan but this looks way better than the tesla model s
some interesting features, but i'm not so sure about that. and I don't think it's better looking than either the taycan or audi e-tron overall. and I'm betting it will suffer from all kinds of annoying design flaws -- see the emira.
This is a good looking car to you ?????
The Emira is really just carrying the brand rn
@@sennedegroof4728 barely. people seem to love the looks but it's still missing some the touches you want from a car at that price. and notable reviewers/enthusiasts aren't hanging on to them.
Nice touch with the Fargo FX theme tune!
We all agree Rory, Hethel aren't in the driving seat any more
I don't like it either and agree with most of the comments, but ultimately lotus wasn't a profitable business, so the business model was required to change :(
How did the “business model” change. All they had to do was make high quality and really great lightweight handling cars at a reasonable but premium price and they would have sold in bucketfuls.
I am fortunate to have my late Fathers 1971 Elan S2, I recently did a faultless 480 mile trip to Cornwall, it was comfortable quick especially on B Roads, updates on car are electric power steering, and AC. My main Car is a BMW 540i and I would have no hesitation taking the Elan on most road trip. I also owned a 2017 Evora 400 and did not upgrade to new Emira, so I am conflicted by new Lotus Range ..great review however
Don't think it can be a 1971 S2, my S3 is a 1968. Is it +2 maybe?
I start my new job at Lotus on Monday. I’m excited 😊
Enjoying it? I left some time ago
Are you at hethal or Norwich?
Why?!!! 🤷♂️
Good for you.
Capped commission is a big NO!
Lotus announced yesterday they are making 200 people redundant...just in time for Christmas...😯🙄😓
Some things at Lotus NEVER change...
I like that in the cabin shots I can see the side mirror screen which shows how well it is following the line in the road.
Thanks Rory, for a company car driver, between pricing, specs and financing options this is a more attractive proposition than a Taycan or eTron GT and after a few times, most will likely not use launch control anyway. Curious about the Lotus charging card; does that come with the car and what are the T's & C's? This is where in the UK, Porsche and Audi lose out, they give you a charging card but if you're lucky only £500 of credit at the start. If you own a Taycan or Etron GT in the US, you get lifetime free charging with EA, one has to question the disparity.
I believe it's part of the settlement from Dieselgate.
Did you precondition the battery?
So it won't accelerate in a straight line, the brakes do emergency stops at will and it makes you feel sick. Maybe there are better ways to spend £130k.
And why don't you make any mention of the range you got? The most important part of the review is missing.
Oh thank you for talking about the range because that's what I wanted to know about this thing honestly
He's not a true journalist. He only gets these cars to use, if he says nice things about them.
What? He wasn't doing a range test so why would he mention the range he got? He clearly stated the expected range. He probably had it for a couple of hours and gave it back. And no, if you're buying a $100,000, 900HP performance vehicle, range isn't the most important part of the review. If range is your priority, get a Lucid or a Rivian.
Why not go with only a single upper front headlight like with the Eletre ? Would make the front appear perfectly low.
Everyone crying about the car as if you'd all buy lotus sports cars to keep the company afloat
Thank you. You are right on. No-one bitches about the Porsche Cayenne, Taycan and Macan which allow Porsche to make the 911. These old school Lotus fans would rather Lotus disappear completely than see it doing something different.
You've missed the point completely.
@@ewadge they keep complaining when they're not even customers
@@Shadow_Wraith what is the point
@@ewadge Spot-on, thank you for being the voice of reason.
A lot of comments focus on the fact that it's not a real Lotus. I don't disagree, but what concerned me the most is the bad calibration of the power... The thing have oversteer and torque steer in a straight line ! Unacceptable for a car of this class. I don't understand how a company could be careless enough to let journalists drive a car that is so far for being properly finished on that front.
If I had the money to get a fast electric saloon, I wouldn't even consider this car over it's competition.
Unacceptable for a car branded as Lotus. That's more TVR stuff.
100% Agreed. A few years from now, I'd rather buy a used Lucid Air Performance if I needed a Luxury Sports Sedan.
Very good point on the digital mirrors - on a normal mirror you are focusing on a distant object, just like you do when you look out of the windscreen, so your eyes don't have to adjust.
When looking at the internal screen you have to suddenly focus 2 feet in front of you, which means you're taking your eyes off the road, and also defocusing from it. Hmm.
Bro had a Thailand flashback mid-interview
What happened in Thailand
@@ntmblko9176...stays in Thailand
@@OfficialFA 😅
I love it. The build quality and specially materials (which you didnt mention) are on the highest level ever (far better then in a Taycan, E-tron and specially tesla)...everything and i mean EVERYTHING is covered in leather or alcantara, even things that in Taycan are of plastic. Then it has much much much more space in the rear, then a Taycan, so it can be also a business limousine (which taycan cant be), it is a 5-door coupe, so you can also transport lets say a dog in the boot (which the competition cant, because 4-doors) and i think that the problem with the launch was, that you deactivated the ESC - in the case it yould be activated, it would handle the chasis better. And the design is breathtaking, specially in this cool yellow. I'm sure that the taycan drives better in corners (because its a Porsche and also because its smaller and lighter), but everything else is better at the Emeya. I would go with the 612 Version, which is far more then enough and get me even a little more range.
I think I'd rather have a Lucid Air Sapphire. Any dedicated electric platform without a decent (motorised) frunk is not to be taken seriously.
If it’s like the Eletre’s, you need to get it around 10% of charge before charging, then you can get the +300kwh charge speed, and it will continue up to about 70% charge before dropping below 250kwh
Cheers Rory and the team
From NZ. Love this bloke. Keep up the great work guv' :)
17:15, how about under thigh support? - Seems like your knees were high and you would have to stretch your legs out if that would even be possible
Rory is deffo good at what he does... u enjoy watching his reviews
Many people criticized whether this is still a Lotus or not. Show me a 2+ tonnes electric car which corners like a true sports car. And the demand for GT is far bigger than 2 seaters. Lotus needs to survive and it can’t be possible with Emira only. Times are changing, get used to it.
The size of it!!! Personal opinion - not a huge fan of the design language but appreciate they are moving the brand into a new space.
Superb editing and stunning new Lotus Emeya !!
Great vid Rory, thanks!
Great review. The asset stripping of a nation, end of British manufacturing is nearly complete. German (EON) and French (EDF) governments supply the power for it too. The loss of the Norfolk company is a tragedy.
Keep voting Tory. They'll look after you.
Yeah they have been great for the country. 🤪
Still a lot of development going on in Norfolk they're even testing the new Xiaomi electric car
Hope so, experience says they are ticking the boxes until they can off shore it.
😮I can't beleiver u only have 1.2 million followers I never noticed this.
❤rory such a legend
I came to realize that car companies which are famous for sport cars need to diversify to be able to compete in this economy and climate regulations. Im not mad at lotus if they produce their usual normal engined cars along-side these..
Where have they added lightness?
the owner's wallet
Autotrader the grown ups version of carwow.
Arguably better. Carwows reviews are good but they seem to make less of them now. Just drag races...
@@pd1596 I agree yes, although Matt seems more about entertainment than actually car/consumer reviews, nowadays.
At least Autorrader is less gimmicks and more about real world Car reviews.
Reminds me of old Men and Motors
It seems to me that maybe the medium range maybe the best option, no need for the R model….
Did you precondition/set charger destination on satnav so car could prepare battery for best charge speed?
And would have been interesting to do a 0-62 without launch control, just push pedal to floor and see if it was as wobbly…
Rory, I was in mainland China for a couple of weeks last month and saw one of these in the hotel underground parking lot, but in black and it had both Hong Kong and mainland China plates. Was impressive to look at, yet I can't shake the feeling that its a shared platform with the Zeekr 001 as they are dimensionally similar and owned by Geely as well. Great review once again. Keep them coming!
The Zeeker is better looking tbf...
@@martynrollinson I agree and love a true wagon. I still keep one all the time. The Lotus and Zeekr are literally more than crossovers and not SUV's. The Zeekr is a true wagon. This is why I didn't purchase an A7, S7 or an RS7. My privilege and curse is that I rarely travel light. I usually carry a drum set and accessories with me on weekends. Have no desire for a SUV even though I keep a 7 passenger one as well, but not for me. . Not sure if Zeekr will arrive here in Canada. Lotus will probably show us here. Interesting times we live in.
I saw a pre-production Emeya in the gloom of a late January afternoon earlier this year in one of the villages near Hethel...
It did look fantastic on the road, I gotta admit...
Living in a big city I’ve lost count of the amount of times my wing mirrors have been damaged or destroyed. Imagine the cost of replacing those cameras?
So much hate going around. I hope they sell 1 million of these so they can continue to create technology like the Evija. Then trickle the tech down into more affordable (ish) cars for consumers.
Porsche did the same thing with the cayenne, but people mysteriously forget about that.
At least Porsche built the Cayenne in Germany though. BMW did move Mini production to China though so I guess this is our brexit future.
Love that people think the charging networks really offer the "max" - spent my life in telco, and when they offer you "100Mb", you'll never get that.. same in power... always expect a quarter of what you're offered. Occasionally, you might hit the max, but that's an absolute bonus!! But it's all about what the network load is... the max is just that... a max, not an average...
This is not a Lotus Colin Chapman would never approve an electric SUV, Rest in peace Lotus 🪦
Good day try launching the car with ESC ON to see if the car can have control or stability
Launch mode doesn’t work with esc on.
For all you naysayers….all manufacturers need to expand they can’t survive off just a light weight sports car in this market….look at Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche all of them expand from their core.
It makes me very happy to hear Unreal Tournament namedropped in the video. Most people seem to have forgotten the (brilliant) series that engine came from.
Its a seagoing freighter.
Looks like a giant, bright yellow Toyota.
Not an EV fan, but I am a Rory fan. Good morning from America.
Great review, well balanced, cheers
Another appliance
What a great video. Saw everything I would check myself looking at this new car. Exciting to see a few metrics that are better than Tesla, charge speed, 0-62 (as long as we don’t count the Splaid)😅 They should do a stripped out EV Lotus that weighs less than a tonne; show that their heritage has not been forgotten.
Yesssss! The emeya is beautiful and deserves more recognition
The question isn't if the emeya is a real lotus. The question is "is Lotus the real Lotus?"
And the answer is a resounding nope.
Lotus = Chinese EV manufacturer
Rory, Love your reviews. You are a pleasure to listen to.
However, I must object to your use of the word "Quality" at 10:30. Quality is the conformance to specs. It doesn't matter if the spec is a 20 hp Model T or a 1000 hp Bugatti. Were the parts made within the blueprint tolerances or not? Was the car assembled correctly, and within the tolerances allowed by its 'prints and specifications? That is Quality, not the impressiveness of the specifications or the tightness of the allowed tolerances.
It looks weird
did lotus see what happen to the taycan prices ? and the sales ?
Looks are generic. Braking and acceleration issues are a turn-off. Audi and porsche more desirable. As well as lucid which wasn't mentioned.
Probably because in Europe at least, Lucid's are hard to get hold of. As are Tesla Plaids. Audi and Porsche may be more desirable but both 2025 versions will cost more than this and will likely depreciate as much, possibly even more. Significant difference, Lotus are offering in the UK at least 0% APR finance, Porsche and Audi charge for the privilege, up to 9.9%. On this value of car on a lease that is significant. Presently you can have an Eletre R for half the price monthly of a 2024 Taycan Turbo S. And the car market is moving more and more toward finance than outright ownership.
What I want most after watching this is the Elan +2 we saw at the start
Not a real lotus 😢
Only better and much more powerful.
Great entertainment ❤ love the music and the location❤❤ interesting Lotus , I keep thinking front mid engine (cosworth ala GMA) ,electric motor in the transaxle , adding lightness , eliminating range anxiety, reducing battery weight maybe a capacitor as well ? 😂😂😂 dream on 😂
€150,000 is mental. I guess that's a fair price if buying by the kilo however 😅
Regarding the slow charging at the first stop... it's almost certainly due to the (mis)measurement of the temperature... ~50C is too hot for the electronics to fully manage the battery temp (too hard to cool it / keep it in the optimum temperature), so it's the *car* that would have been limiting the charge speed... Why it thought it was ~50C however, I have no idea...
The minute he said that this car is to compete with Tesla, I had to laugh. Tesla’s plasticmobile might drive well but is miles off a Lotus or Porsche
I'm the one doing the laughing because you have no idea what a Tesla is. 🤣🤣
I agree. Performance is good. Tech is mostly good, I think. But everything else about a Tesla is pretty awfuI imo.
@@TD1237 Yes. The plastic cabin looks cheap and those panel gaps !,!
and Tesla brakes suck
@@PaulTC97 I was wondering how long it was going to be before someone brought up the stupid brake comment. You win! 🤣🤣
In my humble opinion, Lotus should have made this a shootingbrake or a wagon. The length of it all makes it feel like that’s what it was meant to be
what a disaster
Lotus has always been a disaster.
Nice to see Rory 😄
Dont get all the hate personally. Lotus has always been a niche and cool brand. I think it looks cool. Car prices definitely are stupid nowadays anyway. How they think people can afford cars that cost over £100k beggars belief. Thats a 2nd mortgage basically 🤦🏾
My BMW iX is £100k - costing me just £28k over 3 years
Dont buy if you cant afford it then? Or just buy a used one since they depreciate badly
Tax breaks my friend
@@SDK2006b and?
@@wellwonky- did you read the original post I was responding to!?
My situation is proof a family person on a normal wage, doesn’t need a second mortgage to get a £100k car.
Simplify and add lightness?
British badge, built in China, review tested in Europe. No mirrors, high weight, chinese design, so many wrongs with this car. And when I heard this guy say: multiculturalism, I just died inside. And the fake enthusiasm, oh my. Instead of focusing on what Lotus is known for, reviewer focused on screens, regen, and ambient lights. Car journalists should be held accountable for their reviews, being paid and such.
He's reviewing a 4 seater electric car not a sports car for God's sake
@@lovelehstuff Since when a Lotus should be a 4 seater electric car? Stop simping.
He has to talk about those things, it's an electric family car
@@SerbMariuslotus should never make those cars i agree. But they need to in order to keep the company alive
@@setti7iIt died when China bought the company.
For the charger - I found that if I tell my BMW IX Sat nav that I am going to a charger I get full beans charging as it preps the battery but agree Ionity is not very reliable
Clearly LOTUS is simply a badge... Not a true Lotus. Just as MG is no longer a true MG. It is simply a Company who has purchased the brand name.
Every car company is changing/evolving.. in less than a decade every Porsche Model will have a battery pack and an electric motor in it, or the company will be left behind.
@@TheMadmax0609The EV scam is failing in front of our eyes with sales figures struggling. EVs will remain a minority sale
@@TheMadmax0609 this is not evolving,this is regression
@@MARCO-rq2ph I've got a car sitting in my garage with three electric motors, each one of them about the size of a watermelon, and it has a thousand horsepower. It's so efficient it also gets the equivalent of over 100 mi to the gallon.
The only thing that's regressing is the way you think. Internal combustion is doomed.
@@TheMadmax0609 👨❤️👨
Designed by former Hyundai designers, who were former Audi and a couple from Honda, who were BMW designers...yeah
Lotus this, lotus that, fans are always mad while the praised Emira is a tough sell alongside Porsches... vote with your wallet guys.
Always been the same.
How hard is to build a new elan like the Mazda mx5 😢 Colin Chapman 😢
Even taycan still looks like porsche, meanwhile this looking like straight out chinese ev.
I know having heavyweight lotus is strange from its lightweight philosophy. But at least they could make it look like LOTUS instead of chinese ev 😢
good thing that fans bought Lotus cars back in the time when they were pure... and kept the company afloat.
A Swedish reviewer said the S was the way to go if you're driving 0-120km/h but on the autobahn the r was sick!
Is this not just a Lotus-branded Geely...
Also. '500litres' of boots on a boot that does not look that much bigger than a Taycan. Typical modern Lotus lies. Like when they say Evora 400 is lighter than the old Evora S. That is an empty Evora 400 compared with Evora S full with fluids.
I want to love Lotus again but their horrific attitude stops me from doing so. Poor Elise, Exige and Evora.
lotus needs to do something about those lights
The only "Lotus" in the new lineup is the Lotus Emira, and imo even tho its a wonderful car its still kinda a pig. Imo China's perception of Lotus is like an Aston Martin. They're turning a Driver focused car into maybe more of a touring car. It gives it more of a diverse market but it really isnt the same brand it once was.
I appreciate the sticky comment explaining the technical issues, but why rush it out? Or why make it at all? This video feels useless and disappointing.
Not to dampen my appreciation for this great presenter and an overall great channel ❤
R.I.P Lotus 💀
I seen one of theses in Pattaya just the other day. Looked cheap. But it was a fast look.
Another 'we want the Chinese market' designed car ... you look at those old Lotus, and then this monstrosity ... Perfect 'Lotus' spec ... but terrible big car spec ... makes the body look massive, and the black wheels like tiny .... poor spec not helping the terrible design much
Bit concerned about the route that lotus are taking. Going all electric for every model is a huge gamble. They should be mixing it up. People who buy lotus cars want lightweight, noise, manual gearbox, etc. I have a bad feeling they might go bump.
Lotus are dead if they don’t go back to Internal combustion engines!