The name Lotus in the automotive world conjures up images of a two-door sports car that’s lightweight and uncompromising. A Lotus sports car is designed for the hardcore enthusiast, who values driving enjoyment and purity above all else.
But unless you’re able to charge an arm and a leg for them like Ferrari or Lamborghini, selling sports cars alone isn’t exactly a profitable enterprise. And in this modern era of electrification, Lotus has had to evolve and adapt in order to survive.
Enter the Emeya, Lotus’ first ever electric four-door sports sedan.
Why has Lotus made an electric sedan?
First of all, we need to look at the direction Lotus has taken in recent years.
As mentioned earlier, Lotus has spent most of its history making pure sports cars, a venture that earned it respect and some success, but not financial riches.
For much of the 21st century, Lotus was owned by Malaysian carmaker Proton, following a spell of instability during the 1980s and 90s when it was being passed around various different owners.
But in 2017, Chinese carmaker conglomerate Geely bought a major controlling stake of Lotus from Proton, and kickstarted the brand revolution that is starting to bear fruit today.
Geely recognised that electrification was a necessary step in today’s automotive world, and it had plans to transition Lotus to an all-electric brand by 2028.
In 2021, it put out Lotus’ first electric model, the Evija. It was a sports car with a limited production run, and had four electric motors that produced a total power output of over 2,000hp.
The Evija was meant to showcase how Lotus’ famed automotive engineering prowess can be applied to the electric car era, and it gave the brand enough confidence to pivot towards bolder steps.
The next breakthrough was in 2023, when Lotus unveiled the Electre, its first ever SUV that was also electric-powered. It sent shockwaves throughout the industry, as few could ever imagine Lotus releasing an SUV.
It seemingly went against everything the brand stood for, but the car went on to receive rave reviews, and demonstrated that Lotus could apply its technical capabilities onto a new form without sacrificing too much of the driving enjoyment that its customers expect from its cars.
The Emeya then is a natural progression on that trajectory. A sports sedan like the Emeya is still a product that’s somewhat un-Lotus-like, but it’s certainly less controversial than an SUV, so it’s probably somewhat more palatable to enthusiasts.
More importantly, cars like the Electre and Emeya open up the Lotus brand to a wider audience, potentially giving it the financial stability to become a more sustainable business.
What’s the Emeya like?
The car we’re driving is the Emeya S, which is the mid-spec model that costs $448,800 without COE.
It sits between the base Emeya ($427,800 without COE) and the high-performance Emeya R ($563,800 without COE). The difference between the base model and the S is mostly down to equipment, with the S featuring high performance brakes, and additional features like a carbon fibre spoiler and glass roof.
The Emeya R is the hardcore version with a lot more power, but in Singapore’s context the R would be a bit of an overkill, unless you intend to take your Emeya to the track regularly.
The first thing you’ll note about the car is that it is very long. It stretches to over 5 metres in length and 2 metres in width, so you do have to be extra careful in manoeuvring this beast around tighter carparks.
The car’s design manages to be sleek and aggressive without shouting too loud. The front end, with its slim headlights and sharp nose, boasts a scowl that lets people know that it means business, while the full-width taillight bar at the rear accentuates the Emeya’s sizeable proportions.
It is the inside though that makes the Emeya a Lotus like no other. Previous Lotus sports cars have generally boasted of spartan and barebones interiors, but the Emeya’s is a world of luxury in comparison.
The biggest thing, literally, is the space you get. With its generous wheelbase that’s over 3 metres long, there’s plenty of room for occupants, especially those in the rear, to stretch their legs and perhaps play a game of kickball between themselves.
Up front, you get a sleek-looking dashboard made from high-quality materials that truly befits the Emeya’s status as a premium contender. It’s a fairly minimalist design, but there are nice touches like the small screen in front of the front passenger to control some of the infotainment options.
Like many newer EVs these days, most of the controls are accessed via the central touchscreen. In the Emeya, you get a rather large 15.6-inch screen that is powered by a pretty fast processor, resulting in quick response times and sharp graphics.
Another interesting highlight is the pretty clever electro-chromic glass roof where you can choose to light or shade selected segments to allow just the right amount of light in as you wish, or create a fancy pattern to wow your passengers. It’s a $17,000 option though, so it’s quite a price to pay for what is really a fun feature.
Does it drive like a Lotus?
If you’re expecting the same kind of pure driving experience as Lotus’ iconic sports cars, then unfortunately you’re not quite going to get that in the Emeya.
It’s worth bearing in mind that, at the end of the day, the Emeya is still a large EV with a heavy battery, and its weight of over 2.5 tonnes is hard to ignore.
That said, it still manages to hide it pretty well, partly by simply overpowering it with brute force. The Emeya S puts out a total of 603hp and 710Nm of torque from its dual electric motors, allowing it to go from 0-100km/h in just 4.2 seconds.
It certainly does feel as quick as the numbers suggest, with the car picking up speed with the sort of urgency that not entirely unexpected from a performance-focused EV actually.
And yet it doesn’t feel as abrupt or jolting as some other high-powered EVs under hard acceleration. Instead, the Emeya delivers its power smoothly and effectively such that it doesn’t feel overwhelming.
It certainly makes for a great long distance cruiser, and that is supplemented by its excellent ride quality, which is not something one can say about Lotus sports cars from the past. The suspension is firm but not unduly uncomfortable, and one could drive the Emeya all day without emerging with a backache at the end of the journey.
And despite its size and weight, the Emeya acquits itself relatively well in the corners, for a car of its type anyway. It’s not going to have same sort of laser precision handling as the Lotus sports cars of yore, but it has a steering that offers plenty of feel, and a chassis that feels taut and capable of letting the car hang on gamely when pushed hard.
It’s probably helped by the optional Dynamic Handling Pack (which costs an eye-popping $42,000) fitted on the test car that includes rear wheel steering and active anti-roll bars, and they combine to give the Emeya a sense of nimbleness that seemingly defies its dimensions.
With all that performance capability, it’s easy to forget the Emeya’s electric prowess. The large 102kWh battery offers a claimed range of 540km, but you’ll probably get closer to the high 400s in the real world.
Charging time is rated at 14 minutes from 10 to 80 per cent using a 400kW rapid charger, but our fastest public charger is only about half that rate, so you can expect a charge time of around 20 minutes or so.
What is the point of the Emeya then?
It’s fair to say that if you’re looking for a high-performance electric sedan, there are no shortage of options available out there for your consideration.
In terms of capability, the closest competitor to the Emeya would be the Porsche Taycan. However, to achieve the same sort of performance ability as the Emeya S, you’ll have to go for the top-spec Taycan Turbo, which costs almost double the price of the Lotus.
Viewed in that perspective, the Emeya doesn’t seem too bad in comparison relatively speaking. It may not be quite like the Lotus you remember, but it certainly will be a Lotus you won’t forget.
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ben.chia@asiaone.com
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