Lotus has officially backed out of its commitment to solely build pure EVs, introducing its first combustion-engined car since the Emira with the Eletre X Hybrid. Oh, and ignore the model plates in these photos – for some inexplicable reason, the car has been revealed in China as the For Me. No, I don’t know exactly who it’s built for, either. Despite the funny name, the For Me…sorry, the Eletre X is almost exactly the same as the electric version, save for what’s under the bonnet. There, you’ll find a new 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a claimed thermal efficiency of 46%, hooked up to a 204 PS (150 kW) electric starter-generator motor – the most powerful in its class, Lotus says. The engine functions primarily as a generator for the dual electric motors, although it can also clutch in through a single-speed transmission to drive the front wheels at higher speeds, where it is most efficient. Call up all three power sources and you’ll need to brace yourself for some serious power. The “regular” Eletre was known for its hair-raising performance numbers – particularly in 918 PS (675 kW) Eletre R guise – and the Eletre X is no different. It produces a sum total of 952 PS (700 kW) and 935 Nm of torque, flinging it from zero to 100 km/h in just 3.3 seconds. But the Eletre X is also no slouch when it comes to pure electric range – its 70 kWh battery is larger than on many pure EVs, so it’s claimed to be able to travel up to 350 km on a single charge (cycle not confirmed, but it’s likely to be standard WLTP, given that the Chinese CLTC figure is 420 km). This, combined with the petrol engine, results in a total range of over 1,200 km. The Eletre X incorporates a 900-volt electrical architecture, and while no DC fast charging power figure has been released, the Chinese For Me is said to be able to accept up to 6C charging (six times the battery capacity in kW), so expect around 420 kW. That’s even quicker than the electric Eletre and means the Eletre X can charge from 20 to 80% in just 9 minutes. The Eletre X shares much of its mechanical makeup with the Zeekr 9X, which also has a 279 PS (205 kW) 2.0 litre engine, dual electric motors (detuned to 897 PS/660 kW), a 70 kWh NMC battery and 6C DC fast charging. In fact, the car has been rebuilt around the 9X’s luxury PHEV variant of the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA-R), whereas the original Eletre is based on the Electric Premium Architecture (EPA). Not that it looks it on the outside – the Eletre X retains almost all of the EV’s rakish “porous” design. The only discernible difference is at the front, which sports additional intakes under the leading edge of the front bumper – taking the space of the pass-through inlets that usually direct air over the bonnet. The petal-like active grille shutters down below have also been replaced by larger rectangular ones. It’s the same story on the inside, with the minimalist horizontal dashboard, slimline 12.6-inch driver and passenger displays, a massive 15.1-inch OLED touchscreen, plush seats, KEF sound system options, and available Alcantara upholstery and carbon fibre trim all carried over from the EV. The Eletre X will be launched in China first as the For Me, on March 29. It will then go on sale in Continental Europe in the middle of the year, followed by the UK next year and a global rollout after that. Compare prices between different insurer providers to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services. Many payment method supported and you can pay with instalment using Atome, Grab PayLater or Shopee SPayLater.
