Discussion
I've seen comments on the UK FB group that Drivalia have backed out of the contract hire deals and have pulled them, meaning the dealers are scrabbling around for a new underwriter. Any cars not delivered by Jan 1st are allegedly affected and the pricing will not be honoured. Now that the cat is out of the bag depreciation wise, I can't see any underwriter taking them on at anywhere near the original RV's, and it remains to be seen whether Lotus will step in.
All seems a bit of a mess, it's by far the most painful order process I've ever endured and I've seen all the updates so far on here/FB, the dealer only gives an update after a direct question. My car was originally due for delivery in November/December, then pushed back to April/May (found out on FB) and probably further now. They haven't been in touch yet regarding the finance, but as it was underwritten by Drivalia and having seen the multitude of comments from others in the same position on FB, it's somewhat inevitable that I'll get an email eventually.
I just need to decide what to get instead, the glut of cheap and available EV's seems to have evaporated, meaning long wait times and high BCH prices once again.
All seems a bit of a mess, it's by far the most painful order process I've ever endured and I've seen all the updates so far on here/FB, the dealer only gives an update after a direct question. My car was originally due for delivery in November/December, then pushed back to April/May (found out on FB) and probably further now. They haven't been in touch yet regarding the finance, but as it was underwritten by Drivalia and having seen the multitude of comments from others in the same position on FB, it's somewhat inevitable that I'll get an email eventually.
I just need to decide what to get instead, the glut of cheap and available EV's seems to have evaporated, meaning long wait times and high BCH prices once again.
I was surprised to stumble across this.
It would appear to indicate that new Electra models are not very easy to sell.
Look on Auto Trader.
Select Lotus Electra.
Refine search to;
Year 2023
Mileage below 100
Unsold, pre-registered cars, one year old, with delivery mileage.
Must have been parked for over 1 year.
A giant sized, battery SUV, costing over £100,000, is clearly a very limited market.
Just about to pull the trigger on a Eletre S for the Mrs, so a couple of questions for the current drivers if you don’t mind?
How long is it taking to charge at home?
What range have people been getting? I’m expecting 250-270.
Has anyone fitted roof bars? Not sure what’s possible here.
Any other feedback would be great. Thanks all.
How long is it taking to charge at home?
What range have people been getting? I’m expecting 250-270.
Has anyone fitted roof bars? Not sure what’s possible here.
Any other feedback would be great. Thanks all.
dalenorth said:
Just about to pull the trigger on a Eletre S for the Mrs, so a couple of questions for the current drivers if you don’t mind?
How long is it taking to charge at home?
What range have people been getting? I’m expecting 250-270.
Has anyone fitted roof bars? Not sure what’s possible here.
Any other feedback would be great. Thanks all.
Charging takes about the same time as other EV's as far as i can tell. 250 miles i would say is realistic range based on my motorway driving (as you are getting no regen)How long is it taking to charge at home?
What range have people been getting? I’m expecting 250-270.
Has anyone fitted roof bars? Not sure what’s possible here.
Any other feedback would be great. Thanks all.
dalenorth said:
Just about to pull the trigger on a Eletre S for the Mrs, so a couple of questions for the current drivers if you don’t mind?
How long is it taking to charge at home?
What range have people been getting? I’m expecting 250-270.
Has anyone fitted roof bars? Not sure what’s possible here.
Any other feedback would be great. Thanks all.
As for the roof bars mine came with roof bars despite it being in the config I wanted a fixed aluminium roof. The dealer was actually fitting a roof box to a Eletre S when I was there getting my alloys swapped round and it looked fairly universal. The profile of the roof rails look very similar to my BMW I had previously so no unique fitment required.How long is it taking to charge at home?
What range have people been getting? I’m expecting 250-270.
Has anyone fitted roof bars? Not sure what’s possible here.
Any other feedback would be great. Thanks all.
Charge at home I'm getting about 30% charge each night on the off peak rate approx. 6hrs charge (I only use this on a schedule when at home) but most days I rarely take the car below 75% charge so it may do more at a lower battery level. For a full charge I guess you could work it out as 20hrs (0-100%) as a very rough estimate as there will be factors relating to what the national grid will supply at peak times etc. For me charging is either off peak overnight at home for say £0.07 per kWh or at super fast chargers when on the odd long run @ approx £0.75 per kWh.
I would say 220-250 is reasonable the most I have done is 215 miles 1 way from a full charge and was at 11% at the end with a mix of driving, regen is always on full with me apart from when in individual mode and having some fun otherwise in tour mode. But it has been hovering around 0degC so I'd expect more in the summer months.
Blossom grey has a nice pink hue to it in different lights I'm sure your Mrs won't be disappointed.
5k Mile review - Eletre R.
It's a big old bus.
The interior is a really nice place to be, very comfortable to drive, kids have massive space in the back and take great delight in moving Mrs Radio's seat forward/back/up/down on journeys. Mrs Radio doesn't like this very much. I should probably switch that function off.
The sound system is truly excellent, One of the best I've experienced in a car.
The straight line speed is farcical. The car finds it very difficult to put the power down (905bhp), the torque vectoring system get itself into a bit of a flap under heavy acceleration. I call this, riding the wild snake. It corrects itself left and right constantly. Quite unsettling. I think it has something to do with the variable squat under load, but I am no engineer.
Weights 2,634 kg So- PWR 343.5 BHP/Tonne. Not spectacular.
Cornering is better than expected for the heft. Corsa tyres are very sticky, until they are not. They also don't work at all in the winter. Will not run another winter on them. Proper dangerous.
The "driver aids" are infuriating. There is 4 stage process to turn them all off each time you set off on a journey. Fatigue detection, off, I know I am in a perpetual state of tiredness, you don't need to bong at me at 0815 on the school run advising a break when I squint my eyes because of the morning sun.
Lane departure off. I don't need the car to wrench me into the kerb or the opposite side of the road each time it looses vision of the white lines.
Speed limiter off. Since I NEVER SPEED this should be OK to be left on - however it defaults to 20mph until it sees a road sign. Bong bong bong.... bong bong bong...
Autonomous emergency breaking. Off. Don't need the dash flashing red and very loud bong noises going off when I go around a corner, and you see an oncoming car that we will cash into IF I open the steering wheel.
Rear collision guard warning. Off. I don't need you to pretend brake check cars approaching me from behind. That's just not cool.
Life care - off. No, I don't need you to set the car alarm off when I go back into the house to pick up the forgotten school bag.
Not terrible over undulated roads. Charge speed really very good (350kw+) but only when you use the lotus navigation to go to a charging point.
Many of these things can be sorted with a software update. So if you want a nice big comfy fast family bus - this is a good car.
Much preferred driving the RS6 C7 which feels positively analogue compared to the Lotus.
It's a big old bus.
The interior is a really nice place to be, very comfortable to drive, kids have massive space in the back and take great delight in moving Mrs Radio's seat forward/back/up/down on journeys. Mrs Radio doesn't like this very much. I should probably switch that function off.
The sound system is truly excellent, One of the best I've experienced in a car.
The straight line speed is farcical. The car finds it very difficult to put the power down (905bhp), the torque vectoring system get itself into a bit of a flap under heavy acceleration. I call this, riding the wild snake. It corrects itself left and right constantly. Quite unsettling. I think it has something to do with the variable squat under load, but I am no engineer.
Weights 2,634 kg So- PWR 343.5 BHP/Tonne. Not spectacular.
Cornering is better than expected for the heft. Corsa tyres are very sticky, until they are not. They also don't work at all in the winter. Will not run another winter on them. Proper dangerous.
The "driver aids" are infuriating. There is 4 stage process to turn them all off each time you set off on a journey. Fatigue detection, off, I know I am in a perpetual state of tiredness, you don't need to bong at me at 0815 on the school run advising a break when I squint my eyes because of the morning sun.
Lane departure off. I don't need the car to wrench me into the kerb or the opposite side of the road each time it looses vision of the white lines.
Speed limiter off. Since I NEVER SPEED this should be OK to be left on - however it defaults to 20mph until it sees a road sign. Bong bong bong.... bong bong bong...
Autonomous emergency breaking. Off. Don't need the dash flashing red and very loud bong noises going off when I go around a corner, and you see an oncoming car that we will cash into IF I open the steering wheel.
Rear collision guard warning. Off. I don't need you to pretend brake check cars approaching me from behind. That's just not cool.
Life care - off. No, I don't need you to set the car alarm off when I go back into the house to pick up the forgotten school bag.
Not terrible over undulated roads. Charge speed really very good (350kw+) but only when you use the lotus navigation to go to a charging point.
Many of these things can be sorted with a software update. So if you want a nice big comfy fast family bus - this is a good car.
Much preferred driving the RS6 C7 which feels positively analogue compared to the Lotus.
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