The new Lotus Emeya “Hyper-GT” is fast and fun but…

The Lotus Emeya R is an all-electric four-door sedan with a six-figure list price and a 0-60 mph time of 2.78 seconds. It has adaptive air suspension, autonomous driving capability, and an interior festooned with technology, including Shiatsu-style seat massagers. A massive battery promises this 2,585kg car will go 270 miles on a single charge.

All of which raises a small question: is this really a… Lotus?

The badge is right there on the bonnet, so the short answer is: duh. But bear with me. Lotus was co-founded in 1948 by Colin Chapman, a rakish, mustachioed Englishman with a dry wit and a sixth sense for speed. (Many of Chapman’s technical innovations are still in use today.) play in Formula One and other motorsports). He is probably best remembered for his design philosophy: “Simplify, then add lightness.”

Lotus, which strictly followed this regime, built some of the weirdest and most wonderful road cars of all time, including the 1960s Elan, arguably the first modern sports car, and the 1990s Elise, without which Tesla might never have existed (that’s another story). Over the years, Lotus became synonymous with lightweight sports cars that, like the rich people who adored them, were fun, stylish and just a little bit flawed.

I’m not the first to wonder what a Lotus is supposed to be these days. That question has been on enthusiasts’ minds since 2017, when the company was acquired by the Chinese giant. GeelyShortly afterward, executives outlined plans to expand Lotus by making “lifestyle” electric vehicles. Yes, electric vehicles They are fast and, compared to internal combustion engines, simple. But light? Not so much. In terms of car design, electrification is Ozempic in reverse. Hence the anguish.

He Emiyawhich I tested during a press conference in Germany and Austria, is the second model in Loti’s new lifestyle. The first, an SUV called Eletrewhich was launched last year (it took exactly half a glass of Dornfelder to irreversibly confuse the two names). Deliveries of the Emeya in Europe begin this month. The basic model has a starting price of £89,500 and the R version with 905bhp and all sorts of accessories costs from £129,950, before options.

This thing is big and very comfortable, it can easily fit five big guys.

Lotus calls the Emeya a “Hyper-GT” – the first word meaning really fast, the second meaning Grand Tourer. Originally a reference to the voyages of intellectual and artistic discovery undertaken by young 18th-century British aristocrats, GT became the industry term for large, comfortable cars suitable for long-distance travel, during which chicken wraps and watered-down coffee can stand in for aesthetic revelation.

A long-distance road trip sounds like something you regret convincing your partner that will be a great bonding experience with the kids during the mid-term break. But it might actually be a good idea in an Emeya. This vehicle is big and very comfortable, easily fitting five burly lads in the standard 2+3 seating configuration.

The interior of my vehicle was also equipped with almost every gadget available. Honestly, it was too much information for me. Fortunately, Lotus says that all of the Emeya’s essential functions can be activated via physical buttons. Bless the old ones.

But the GT character of the Emeya is yet another twist to this enigma wrapped in a mystery inside a tongue twister. In an era that cries out for nice utility trucks and restyled SUVs, who asks for this kind of vehicle? More specifically, who asks for this kind of electric Vehicle? True, Lotus’s ultra-rapid charging system (the fastest and easiest I’ve ever used) allowed me to charge the vehicle from about 30 percent to over 90 percent in less time than it took me to devour a butter pretzel and a SpecialtiesBut it all depends on where you travel and what type of chargers you have access to.

The good news is that it’s a delight to drive. From Munich Airport, I covered miles of road to the twistier Austrian roads. When called upon, the Emeya deploys an integrated rear spoiler and opens a constellation of triangular vents in the front grille to improve aerodynamics and cooling.

Even though flooring the throttle generated noticeable torque, I didn’t feel like I was anywhere near losing control (colleagues who took it to the electronically limited top speed of 256 km/h reported the same). By the time I got to the mountains, the hills were no longer alive with the sound of music, as the Emeya is so quiet you can barely hear anything, but I may have let out a few perfectly manly squeals.

Several hours later, we arrived at a bucolic eco-lodge and, still wondering whether or not I was driving a genuine Lotus, I congratulated myself on being the young Werther who didn’t pass it up. To be fair, Lotus had repeatedly informed us that the new cars were totally legitimate, even unearthing archival material proving that Chapman thought building a GT was a really cool idea back in the 1980s.

Why all the moaning? These are tough times for electric car makers. Technology has lowered the barriers to entry for startups while raising the stakes for traditional manufacturers. Consumer demand is mixed, and — oh, goodness — another tariff war is brewing. In other words, we are in the awkward adolescence of electrification.

Over dinner, a very patient gentleman from the Lotus team told me that he thought the company was becoming something like the phrase that used to be printed on the back of every iPhone. In Lotus’s case: designed in Britain, manufactured in Germany (where its technology centre is located) and assembled in China. It’s not an easy phrase to say, but the man was right.

In 2017, Lotus management realised that to survive another 76 years, it had to appeal to customers other than divorced parents or those curious about divorce. That means making more cars like the Eletre and Emeya. And all the better if they offer this added value (even a top-of-the-range Emeya will probably cost less and offer more luxury than a roughly comparable electric BMW or Porsche).

What will make them truly Lotus cars is the small army of people in Norfolk who are doing their best to build a bridge between the company’s past and its future.