Discussion
Suggested I post here so here goes.
Moved to the EV dark side in '17 with a Tesla Model S. Loved the immediacy of the power, the tech and the ultra low running costs. Had a second Model S from '20 to '24 and then a Polestar 4 from '24-25. Didn't gel with is for various reasons.
Very little in the way of attractive options to my eyes. No more RHD Model S (even if I wanted one), Blobby Mercs, boring Audi's and a Porsche line up that's dull to my eye and too small.
Enter the Lotus Emeya. My only experince of a Lotus was a Europa a friend had many decades ago.
For me, it's the perfect combo of stunning looks,superb performance, all the toys you could want and stuff I didn't know I needed (!), with sumptuous comfort.
I picked up an ex demo with 1,500 on the clock and a very hefty chunk of depreciation swallowed by Lotus.
A few pics and happy to enage with anyone that's minded to.
Moved to the EV dark side in '17 with a Tesla Model S. Loved the immediacy of the power, the tech and the ultra low running costs. Had a second Model S from '20 to '24 and then a Polestar 4 from '24-25. Didn't gel with is for various reasons.
Very little in the way of attractive options to my eyes. No more RHD Model S (even if I wanted one), Blobby Mercs, boring Audi's and a Porsche line up that's dull to my eye and too small.
Enter the Lotus Emeya. My only experince of a Lotus was a Europa a friend had many decades ago.
For me, it's the perfect combo of stunning looks,superb performance, all the toys you could want and stuff I didn't know I needed (!), with sumptuous comfort.
I picked up an ex demo with 1,500 on the clock and a very hefty chunk of depreciation swallowed by Lotus.
A few pics and happy to enage with anyone that's minded to.
Leftfootwonder said:
Congrats OP. I cant say I'm a fan but certainly agree that it one of the more interesting EV options. I do love the look of the rear end (ooh matron).
Hopefully you have a good dealer network experience.
Thanks!Hopefully you have a good dealer network experience.
I'm hoping not to go anywhere near the dealer tbh. I'm not falling for the old "maintenance done by dealer" trip at £500 a time con. There's a number of well established EV indpendents perfectly capable of doing what's required.
DJP31 said:
Leftfootwonder said:
Congrats OP. I cant say I'm a fan but certainly agree that it one of the more interesting EV options. I do love the look of the rear end (ooh matron).
Hopefully you have a good dealer network experience.
Thanks!Hopefully you have a good dealer network experience.
I'm hoping not to go anywhere near the dealer tbh. I'm not falling for the old "maintenance done by dealer" trip at £500 a time con. There's a number of well established EV indpendents perfectly capable of doing what's required.
Lovely motor. Enjoy!
InformationSuperHighway said:
No issues keeping the warranty by doing servicing out of the network? (Not agreeing with it, I think it s a racket!).
Lovely motor. Enjoy!
Thanks, I’m certainly enjoying and looking for any opportunity to drive!Lovely motor. Enjoy!
I checked the manual and the finance agreement and the requirement is to have it serviced in line with the schedule, but no reference to by whom. I think it was made illegal some years ago to require this to be done by main dealers. Needless to say they will still push you down that route if they can!
mooseracer said:
I'll be very interested in how you get on with this, please do post progress updates
Will do. I'm 1k miles in and so far everything as exactly as it should be and works. The Tesla was pretty good, intuitive and forward thinking - but they are (or were, I'm a year out of date) prone to issuing updates too quickly and breaking as much as they fixed/introduced. The Polestar was very poor in comparsion and IMO they released the car far too early and don't have the resource to fix the problems.The Lotus is bang in the middle, the software all works and is very snappy and on a par with Tesla for usability and ease of learning. Still a few features to go but that's always likely to be the case.
The drive is superb and the air suspension excellent. Efficiency isn't great but when refuelling at home for pennies it's no big deal, and fast charging is very fast. It's too early to post any meaningful numbers but I'll do so later.
DJP31 said:
I checked the manual and the finance agreement and the requirement is to have it serviced in line with the schedule, but no reference to by whom. I think it was made illegal some years ago to require this to be done by main dealers. Needless to say they will still push you down that route if they can!
You're referring to "block exemption" in law, and it does basically what you describe with the exception of leased/rented/hired vehicles. As it's their car it's their choice where it is maintained.Cambs_Stuart said:
I saw one of these in black and it was a good looking thing. What's it like to drive? Hows the space inside?
It's a dream to drive, wafts around or hurtle along depending on your desire. Handles very well for its' size and grip is excellent. It is 2.5 ton and 5 metres long though, so expectations should be set accordingly. It's 2 metres wide too, and narrow country lanes would be challenging.The space inside the cabin is as you would hope given the dimensions, and beautifully appointed. The boot space is quite shallow towards the rear of the car and very different to the Emeya's stable mate, the Eletre SUV. I can get my golf clubs and electric trolley in - which I can't get remotely close to in the Taycan, but isn't as great as you'd hope given the dimensions.
I'll stick another pic here as the more you see the better the feeling for the car and colour etc.
How are you getting on with it now?
I’m going to have a test drive in one this afternoon as I’m considering one to replace my Range Rover Sport.
What sort of range do you get on long runs? I’ve a 310 mile trip I do most months and often do it non-stop in the Range Rover, have you ever seen this much from the Lotus from 100%?
If it’s always going to need a recharge anyway I might also consider the 900 version, which definitely does need a charge on that length of journey.
I’m going to have a test drive in one this afternoon as I’m considering one to replace my Range Rover Sport.
What sort of range do you get on long runs? I’ve a 310 mile trip I do most months and often do it non-stop in the Range Rover, have you ever seen this much from the Lotus from 100%?
If it’s always going to need a recharge anyway I might also consider the 900 version, which definitely does need a charge on that length of journey.
SchillingTwo said:
How are you getting on with it now?
I m going to have a test drive in one this afternoon as I m considering one to replace my Range Rover Sport.
What sort of range do you get on long runs? I ve a 310 mile trip I do most months and often do it non-stop in the Range Rover, have you ever seen this much from the Lotus from 100%?
If it s always going to need a recharge anyway I might also consider the 900 version, which definitely does need a charge on that length of journey.
The car is superb and has been flawless. I rarely stretch the range and haven't done a full 100% to zero but even in these battery friendly temps I don't think 310 would be achievable. Even if it was that would be right on the margin and no fun. There's no way my bladder could do 310 miles so personally I'd be looking at the possible top up points along the route - aiming for the 800v chargers if possible. You'd be charged suffciently inside the time it takes to have a leak and grab a coffee. I don't know if it's your first EV but longer journey's like the one you describe take a few minutes planning but never to the extent where I'd bin the EV idea due to the ICE "can stop anywhere" argument. As a regualr journey I'm sure you'd soon suss out the optimum places to charge. I m going to have a test drive in one this afternoon as I m considering one to replace my Range Rover Sport.
What sort of range do you get on long runs? I ve a 310 mile trip I do most months and often do it non-stop in the Range Rover, have you ever seen this much from the Lotus from 100%?
If it s always going to need a recharge anyway I might also consider the 900 version, which definitely does need a charge on that length of journey.
I have a pal that does South London to Darlington monthly in his iPace. He's worked out exactly where to stop and wouldn't go back to doing the journey in his ICE.
As far as the R is concerned, I've no direct experince but everything I've read suggests it's not worth the premium and the drive is actually better in the 600. As you've pointed put the range will definately be an issue and trust me, the 600 has more than enough beans!
I've yet to see another Emeya on the road and will be interested to hear how you get on.
Thanks for that.
I took out a 600 today down in Kent, but have come away not sure at all about whether to buy one or not.
I was very impressed by the apparent build quality, the interior space, the quality of the finish and so on, and thought it fast and smooth but (perhaps inevitably) it felt a bit inert in terms of steering.
I’d jumped in from a 650bhp Range Rover Sport which has far more power than grip, so the Emeya felt very different to that. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing,
The acceleration was good, although it does the EV of course or not “building” as regs rise, but instead giving flat or decreasing torque with speed, which again, is different to what I am used to. This will I think be overcome by learning how to use the throttle differently, as will the slightly grabby brakes. My Tesla S P100D was similar.
The toys were brilliant. My little boys loved controlling the roof from the back, and turning the radio on and off, and described it as “ the best car ever.” They’ve never forgiven me for selling my Emira, and like the thought of another Lotus, which is another point in its favour.
The smart cruise control was excellent, as was the highway assist; I can see it making a big difference in the long trips, and a genuine 270 mile range is probably enough, as in I don’t mine a ten minute stop if it adds 100 miles of range.
I think I need to actually take out a RR Sport SVR now to compare before deciding.
The test drive experience was all nice, a good salesman who wanted to find out what I wanted in a car and left me to just drive it for an hour, although I’m a little surprise that the price discussion was that “It’s £110k” when I’m pretty certain that he could source a very nearly new one for £30k less.
I took out a 600 today down in Kent, but have come away not sure at all about whether to buy one or not.
I was very impressed by the apparent build quality, the interior space, the quality of the finish and so on, and thought it fast and smooth but (perhaps inevitably) it felt a bit inert in terms of steering.
I’d jumped in from a 650bhp Range Rover Sport which has far more power than grip, so the Emeya felt very different to that. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing,
The acceleration was good, although it does the EV of course or not “building” as regs rise, but instead giving flat or decreasing torque with speed, which again, is different to what I am used to. This will I think be overcome by learning how to use the throttle differently, as will the slightly grabby brakes. My Tesla S P100D was similar.
The toys were brilliant. My little boys loved controlling the roof from the back, and turning the radio on and off, and described it as “ the best car ever.” They’ve never forgiven me for selling my Emira, and like the thought of another Lotus, which is another point in its favour.
The smart cruise control was excellent, as was the highway assist; I can see it making a big difference in the long trips, and a genuine 270 mile range is probably enough, as in I don’t mine a ten minute stop if it adds 100 miles of range.
I think I need to actually take out a RR Sport SVR now to compare before deciding.
The test drive experience was all nice, a good salesman who wanted to find out what I wanted in a car and left me to just drive it for an hour, although I’m a little surprise that the price discussion was that “It’s £110k” when I’m pretty certain that he could source a very nearly new one for £30k less.
It's certainly very different to the RR, and much more like the Model S (that's my background too). The storage space in the back isn't great, not sure how it compares to the RR but isn't a patch on the MS with a boot that would swallow everything.
The brakes are a tad grabby and I thought I'd really miss the one pedal drive of the Tesla, but I don't really. The acceleration mid range just keeps on going and yes the steering lacks feel but for me it's a minor issue and sort of goes with the territory.
As for the price, I picked mine up from Lotus Ashford and it was an ex demo - with a big chunk of depreciation swallowed by Lotus. Not sure I'd want to fork out list or anywhere close unless spec was crucial and it was a very long term keeper.
The brakes are a tad grabby and I thought I'd really miss the one pedal drive of the Tesla, but I don't really. The acceleration mid range just keeps on going and yes the steering lacks feel but for me it's a minor issue and sort of goes with the territory.
As for the price, I picked mine up from Lotus Ashford and it was an ex demo - with a big chunk of depreciation swallowed by Lotus. Not sure I'd want to fork out list or anywhere close unless spec was crucial and it was a very long term keeper.
No, I’d not be paying £110,000 when there are ones with 2-3,000 miles on for under £70,000.
I was surprised that the highest regeneration setting was not at least close to one pedal driving.
I was impressed by the highway assist function, I didn’t realise it was a step above the one I have in my Yaris that just nudges you away from the white lines as opposed to keeping you smoothly in the centre of the lane.
I was surprised that the highest regeneration setting was not at least close to one pedal driving.
I was impressed by the highway assist function, I didn’t realise it was a step above the one I have in my Yaris that just nudges you away from the white lines as opposed to keeping you smoothly in the centre of the lane.
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