Lotus is continuing to forge its path to electrification with its second mainstream EV model (or third battery-powered car if you include the first electric vehicle it revealed, the £2m Evija flagship hypercar). The Eletre SUV is becoming an increasingly regular sight on UK roads and the Emeya saloon follows it as another best-used-daily offering from a company that has previously concentrated its efforts as a sportcar manufacturer. The 76-year-old marque is targeting mainstream acceptance with global sales projections many times its previous output.
With styling cues quite obviously shared with its Eletre stablemate, the Emeya is the lower-slung option that will more easily appeal to those who felt a high-riding SUV was a stretch too far for Lotus’s traditional brand values. After all, there is saloon car precedence in the firm’s back catalogue with its performance-focused reworkings of the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Carlton (aka Opel Omega).
The Emeya is a different proposition to those cars, though, being an in-house design rather than a makeover of a third party’s existing car. It’s also a lot more powerful than its spiritual forebears: power outputs range from 600PS to 918PS. Aptly, Lotus describes the Emeya as a hyper-GT to reflect its lightning-quick straight-line performance.
At the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, the new five-door Lotus made its dynamic debut by taking to the 1.16-mile Hill route as part of the First Glance presented by heycar category. Since this part of the Festival of Speed is for new metal, it’s no surprise that the Emeya falls into line with an increasing number of cars that forgo internal combustion in favour of batteries and electric motors as the industry strives to get ahead of incoming legislation.
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