The Lotus Emeya looks like a mid-engine hypercar from the front.
The Tesla Model S was the EV that took electrification from worthy to aspirational, even if many other vehicles have sold more units now. The fast luxury sedan is still the halo product of EVs – just ask owners of Tesla’s latest Model S Plaid, the Lucid Air, or BMW’s i7. There’s a new contender in the class, however, and it’s a beast. The Lotus Emeya looks like a hypercar, but with serious luxury potential for four or five passengers inside. I took it for an extended test drive.
Lotus Emeya: Beauty That Is Not Skin Deep
First, let’s get back to those looks. The Emeya could be mistaken for a mid-engined sports car from the front. Someone even thought it was a Lamborghini of Bugatti when walking past in a car park. You only realize that this isn’t a two-seater with track pretentions when you move round the side and spot the four doors and just how long it is. It’s very, very long. The Emeya is over 5.1m, so not quite as much as the BMW i7, but still huge and the wheelbase is over 3m as well. It’s also wider than a BMW i7 (over 2m).
The side profile is sleek, however, evoking speed and aerodynamics (with a drag factor of just 0.21Cd). Lotus has done a brilliant job of making a four-door sedan look incredibly sporty. The ruddy orange of the one I borrowed (a paint called Fireglow) is particularly striking. It’s loud but not tasteless, enhancing the impact of the swooping roofline. You can also get Lotus’s signature yellow paint, which works well with this car too. In summary, the Lotus Emeya is a beautiful tour-de-force of automotive styling.
Look at the Emeya side-on and you realise just how big it is.
Its capabilities are not skin deep, either. Lotus has recently reorganized the range for both the Emeya and the Eletre. There are 600 and 900 versions, and both are incredibly powerful. The two models refer to dual motor configurations with 612hp and 918hp respectively. The 600 comes as a basic version, GT, GT SE, and SPORT SE variants. The 900 only has SPORT and SPORT CARBON options. The car I borrowed was actually the Emeya R from the previous range, but its features are almost identical to the 900 SPORT CARBON.
All cars have a 102kWh battery (slightly smaller than the Eletre’s massive 112kWh pack, but still substantial), active air suspension with continuous damping control, LED matrix headlights, a 51in head-up display, and four-zone climate control. So even the basic version is well equipped. Move up to GT and you get the highway assist and parking packages, plus 21in wheels and six-piston brakes (basic wheels are 20in).
The GT SE variant adds an intelligent glass roof, which is rather cool. Not only can you switch the glass from transparent to opaque entirely (a technology I first saw in the BMW iX) but you can also select triangular sections to create a pattern. This is more of “because we can” feature than being particularly useful, although it would enable a single passenger to be in the shade while others enjoy direct sunlight. The GT SE also gets a hands-free tailgate and some aesthetic lighting additions.
Higher trim levels get an active spoiler at the rear.
The SPORT SE is where the driving experience gets a real boost, with the Lotus dynamic handling pack, active rear spoiler and diffuser, and active front air dam. Occupant luxury is upgraded with ventilated front seats with massaging, plus soft-close doors. These automatically open with a pull of the handle or push of the interior button, and you don’t need to close them fully, as they will finish off the process themselves.
The 900 SPORT doesn’t have the seat and door upgrades, nor the diffuser and air dam. But it keeps the dynamic handling pack. The flagship 900 SPORT CARBON has everything the SPORT SE offers plus extensive use of carbon fiber trim inside and out. The 900 also uses a two-speed transmission like the Porsche Taycan, improving acceleration and efficiency at high speed.
Lotus Emeya: Interior Luxury And More Space Than You’d Expect
The Emeya’s sense of occasion on the outside continues inside. Lotus interiors have improved a lot since the time when the Lotus name was jokingly referred to as an acronym for “Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious”. The Emira I drove a few months ago is a more conventional two-seater and is much more comfortable than previous models. But the Emeya, like the Eletre, is a huge step above that.
This isn’t a Rolls Royce inside – there is plenty of plastic trim around. But all the trim is of extremely high quality. The optional Alcantara steering wheel on my test car feels particularly great as you drive. The front seats hug your back, but if you switch to Sports or Track mode, the bolsters narrow to provide an even more bucket-like experience, keeping you from slipping in fast corners. The massage function is also excellent, with a variety of settings that are very good at providing relief on a long trip.
With the Executive Pack, there are only two, very comfortable rear seats.
There are two options for rear seating with the Emeya, as with the Eletre. The basic choice is a bench seat for three, but the car I tested had the Executive Pack, which is only available with the 900. This swaps the bench for two rear seats like the front ones. This adds ventilation and massage functions in the rear, with an integrated armrest that includes a control screen for all the seat functions and quad-zone climate control. Although this is a low car, there’s still plenty of head and legroom in the rear, thanks to the vehicle length and wheelbase. The Emeya has much more space front and rear than a Porsche Taycan.
There’s a huge amount of technology in the Emeya, revolving around the central 15.1in infotainment screen. There aren’t that many discrete buttons, although the steering wheel has regular stalks (left for lights and indicators, right for wipers) plus paddles to vary regeneration level and drive modes. There are some controls in the center console for raising the car over particularly high speedbumps plus demisting the windows, but all other climate controls require trip to the central display.
The infotainment screen layout is fairly logical, with a lot available from the large 3D model of the car that sits centrally on the home page. You press parts of the car to reach functions. You can call up a double-row of built-in apps, which include direct Spotify and TIDAL music service support. The connected satnav is competent and easy to read, with a capable keyword search function. A central cog icon takes you to all the main car settings, which have a consistent layout making it easy to find the parameters you want to change.
The Intelligent Glass panoramic sunroof can have individual triangular sections rendered opaque.
You also get that head-up display as standard, which shows ADAS details as well as speed, limit and navigation. There’s still a narrow instrument strip behind the steering wheel, but that only provides minimal information, such as speed, regen level, power level, and range / battery percentage – all you need, really.
The Emeya isn’t a car meant for doing the shopping in, but there is a decent amount of cargo space in the back if you did want to (or to carry the bags for your passengers on a trip, of course). With the bench seats in the back, you get a decent 509 liters of capacity and you can drop the rear seats forward to make 1,388 liters. This is hardly SUV territory but perfectly adequate for any practical load-lugging you might want to do with your electric hyper-GT. The capacity drops to just 425 liters with the Executive Pack, however, and you can’t drop the seats forward. The rear is still deep, so will fit a couple of suitcases. The Emeya can also allegedly tow up to 2,250kg, but I very much doubt anyone will be hooking a caravan up to the back.
Driving Pleasure: What The Lotus Emeya Is All About
When I tested the Eletre, it was dynamically excellent for a large SUV, but not exactly in keeping with the Lotus heritage of light, nimble performance. The Emeya isn’t exactly svelte at 2.5 tons either, but it still feels much more like a continuation of what Lotus is all about: driving pleasure. In fact, it’s an absolute blast.
The 600 cars take just 4.15 seconds to reach 62mph, and the 900 cars a somewhat bonkers 2.78 seconds, around the same as the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore. The power delivery is incredible, and this is particularly surprising when accelerating from around 50mph on a motorway. This still feels like gunning it off the lights, with that second gear in the 900 kicking in to keep the power delivery relentless. This must be terrific on a German autobahn; on a British motorway you will need to be very careful to stay the right side of the law.
What is even more incredible is how dynamically stable the Emeya is when laying down the power during a maneuver. When you floor the accelerator, there is a little wriggle as the car works out how to keep everything going in the right direction, but the traction and steering control provides handling confidence that matches the brilliant Porsche Taycan, and in my experience is only surpassed by the €2 million ($2.2 million) Rimac Nevera, which is in a different league to any other EV I’ve ever driven.
The Lotus Emeya’s driving dynamics match its looks.
I’m sad to say that I haven’t had the chance to try the Emeya round a track (although I have tried the Eletre R and it was utterly bonkers). My experience at legal speeds on British A-roads and motorways would imply that it’s going to be brilliant, despite the weight. The level of grip and road stability are outstanding, delivering a truly engaging drive. The active air suspension also soaks up bumps incredibly well, making rubbish pothole-ridden London roads comfortable. This ability to provide stiff, level cornering while eating up surface blemishes is exactly what you want in a luxury performance sedan.
There are a couple of caveats. My car had camera-based wing mirrors, which use little screens in the doors. In theory these prevent blind spots compared to regular wing mirrors, but if you’re a bit short-sighted like me, they’re not so useful, particularly in the dark. The one on the passenger’s side is fine, but the one near me is just at the distance someone who uses reading glasses will have trouble focusing on.
Another thing I realized to my cost is that this is not a great car for tight British car parks. The long wheelbase makes getting round corners with high curbs extremely stressful and sometimes impossible to achieve unscathed, particularly with the 22in wheels on my review car. But these are “first world problems”. If you can afford an Emeya, you can probably afford a mansion with spacious parking.
The Fireglow paint is very orange indeed.
Although the Emeya is great for ragging it around an A-road, long distance is really what it’s about, and the range it’s capable of backs that up. Although the battery isn’t quite as big as the Eletre’s, with a usable capacity of 98.9kWh, you still get up to 379 WLTP miles with the 600, although this drops to 301 miles with the 900. During my testing I managed 2.3 miles per kWh (I wasn’t exactly trying to be frugal, because that’s pointless in a car with over 900hp). This would equate to 230 miles of usable real-world range. Still, an 800V architecture has been used and charging has been demonstrated up to 402kW, which means you could charge from 10 to 80% in just 14 minutes. I’ve charged the Eletre, with the same powertrain, on a 350kW charger and it’s incredibly quick. Driving long distances in the Emeya will be a breeze.
Lotus Emeya: Expensive But Worth It
You will not be surprised to hear that the Emeya isn’t a cheap car. The basic 600 starts at £84,990 ($113,000), then it’s £5,000 ($6,600) more for the 600 GT, another £5,000 for the GT SE, and £10,000 ($13,000) on top of that for the SPORT SE, making £104,990 ($139,000). The 900 SPORT is £129,990 ($172,500), and the 900 SPORT CARBON £139,990 ($186,000). Then there are plenty of extras you can add, and I calculated that my test car would cost more than £162,000 ($215,000).
That’s a lot of money, but then this is a lot of car, with no real downsides in its genre. If this review seems glowing (or fireglowing, if you consider the paint color), that’s because the Lotus Emeya deserves its praise. Yes, it’s very expensive, even beating the top echelons of the Porsche Taycan Turbo S or BMW i7 on price, and well ahead of a Tesla Model S Plaid. But the driving experience is brilliant, the comfort is exquisite, and it looks even more expensive than it is. If you’ve got the money and want fast transport for more than two people that turns heads everywhere, buy one.
