Lotus Emeya Review & Prices

Lotus has some form in the rapid saloon car department. The original Lotus Cortina — based on the humble 1960s Ford — passed into motoring and motorsport legend, while the 1980s Lotus Carlton — a twin-turbo version of the big Vauxhall saloon with a 185mph top speed — passed into notoriety with its ability to out-run police cars and, just about, police helicopters too.

Now, Lotus is back in the big, fast saloon game but this time it’s gone all-electric. This is the Lotus Emeya, and it’s basically like taking a Lotus Carlton, digitising it, adding the face of a Lamborghini, and shoving enough battery in it to get from London to Edinburgh in one go. Almost.

It’s less of a mad performance machine though, and more of a sleek luxury car, so while it does compete with the Porsche Taycan in terms of speed and motorsports-steeped badge, it’s really more akin to a BMW i5 M60 or a Mercedes EQE AMG.

The Emeya’s styling is clearly closely related to that of the taller Lotus Eletre SUV. There’s the same shovel-like nose with the slim wraparound headlights that looks a bit Lamborghini-ish (or, if you’re feeling less charitable, like a Toyota C-HR). This is a big car — 5.1 metres long — and all of that shape sweeps back into a chopped-off rear end, that’s good for both aerodynamics and style.

This is a big, heavy car — hardly traditional Lotus territory — but it’s aimed less at the traditional string-back-gloves Elan and Esprit fans, and more at new-money luxury car buyers in the US and China, who fancy a classic name but want modern technology, not 1960s Grand Prix references.

The interior gets the now-fashionable minimalist design, with big screens for the instruments and infotainment, and lots of soft-touch materials such as man-made suede scattered about. What’s surprising — to anyone who’s ever owned an old-school Lotus — is just how beautifully made everything is. This is a Lotus that can compete head-on with the best that BMW and Mercedes can offer when it comes to cabin design and quality.

In the back, there’s stretching-out space for grown-ups, although there’s not a lot of space under the front seats for anyone’s feet. The boot measures a reasonable 509 litres, with a 31 litre ‘frunk’ in the nose for your charging cables, but that boot space shrinks to 429 litres if you pick the more luxurious four-seat cabin layout.

Lotus has played smart by keeping some proper physical controls in the cabin for cabin temperature and the like, but as with so many cars these days, it relies too heavily on its big touchscreen for too many functions, and the menu system takes some getting used to.

The Emeya uses a 99kWh battery, which in the most basic model, with its combined 603hp electric motors driving all four wheels, gets a theoretical range of up to 379 miles. The higher-spec S model keeps the same motors and battery, and consequently keeps the same theoretical range, but because it’s a little heavier expect it to do slightly worse in real world conditions. At the faintly ridiculous top of the range is the Emeya R, which has 905hp(!) and a range of up to 301 miles.

A basic Emeya is quick enough, hitting 62mph in 4.1 seconds, but the R will — literally — take your breath away with a 2.7 second 0-62mph time.

It’s almost as quick to charge, with an 800-volt charging system allowing for up to 400kW of DC rapid charging, meaning a 10-80 per cent charge takes just 14 minutes, assuming you can find a charger that powerful.

Lotus has been justifiably renowned for its sharp-handling cars over the years, but the Emeya is a little different. While it does have sharp steering and tight body control, it has been set up — even the powerful R — to be more relaxing and refined than a traditional Lotus. A Porsche Taycan feels a little sharper and more responsive in corners, but it doesn’t have the cabin space nor refinement of the Lotus.

If this all sounds good, hang tight for our full review of the Lotus Emeya. And remember Carwow's the best place to go, whether you're looking for our best Lotus Emeya deals, cracking deals on other Lotus models, or even a used Lotus for sale. Carwow can also help you sell your old car through our network of trusted dealers.

The Emeya is definitely not cheap, but in some ways it’s actually very well-priced. It matches a BMW i5 M60 for power, if not quite for 0-62mph time, but it’s a full £10,000 cheaper than the car from Munich. Even the higher-spec Emeya S is actually only slightly more expensive than the BMW, and both undercut the prices of any Mercedes-AMG EQE. A basic Porsche Taycan is slightly more affordable than a basic Emeya, but has less cabin and boot space, and isn’t as quick. If you want to match the power of the Emeya R, you’ll need a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, which costs a full £30,000 more than the Lotus.