Lotus Emeya - looks great but...

[uktrailmonster]

I drove the Emeya this afternoon and it didn’t disappoint!

For such a big car, it felt surprisingly nimble on our local backroads near Silverstone. Turn-in is quite pleasingly sharp and steering very precise. Grip level is off the charts! It’s not the sort of car you can push anywhere near the limit without driving obnoxiously fast. I stayed under 70 mph and don’t think I used more than about a third of the pedal travel. This is an effortless GT cruiser with immense torque and great chassis control. These local roads are quite bumpy and it rode beautifully without feeling overly floaty like a Tesla Model S. You can feel the road in Sport mode, but in a good way. At no point did it feel harsh. In default Tour mode it was very compliant, but nicely damped. Village speed bumps hardly registered in the cabin.

This was the standard 600 hp version and no way does anyone need the 900 hp version! It would be frankly a waste of time on a public road and it’s not the sort of car you would choose for a track day. 600 hp is enough here and the power delivery was buttery smooth. It just feels like a bottomless pit of torque. I didn’t launch it, or even attempt a full bore acceleration. But 30-70 mph was despatched in a couple of seconds with ease.

The only thing getting in the way of ultra-smooth, rapid progress was the brakes. They are very light and quite grabby on initial application and hard to modulate under light braking. It doesn’t help that lift-off regen is quite weak, even on the highest setting. I was missing the one-pedal driving in my Tesla, where I only need to use the brakes on bigger stops and the pedal is less sensitive. Certainly not a deal-breaker, but would be nice to have a choice of modes or at least a less sensitive brake pedal. Now I think this demo car may have had the upgraded brakes, so maybe the standard brakes are better on the road? That’s something I would like to compare.

Anyway, it’s a stunning car inside and out. It looks and feels like a million dollars! If you can live with it’s considerable size then it’s a very interesting proposition. My teenage daughter came along for the ride and thought it was amazing!

Going back on Thursday for another go! Anyone looking for a big GT car like the Porsche Taycan should try this too.

[uktrailmonster]

Had a second test drive today with my Mrs and eldest daughter. They both loved it! The interior quality and luxury is outstanding. The KEF audio system is pretty impressive too.

This demonstrator had a few notable upgrades, including the heated, ventilated and massage seats. They are very nice, but an expensive option and unfortunately not available on the base model. Personally, I would give them a miss, but the girls really want them!

It’s the same story with exterior colour choices too. The base model is only available in a limited range of colours. Again, it wouldn’t bother me, but the colour my wife likes most requires an expensive model upgrade.

So I think if we bought one of these it would have to be a used demonstrator with the options we all want. The saving would be around £20k off list. The most discount anyone is offering on a brand new one is £4k (5%). Lease deals don’t look good either, but at least that will keep them fairly exclusive!

Anyway, it’s a very impressive car if you are in the market for a big luxury GT cruiser. The obvious alternative would be the Taycan Turismo, which I’ve also driven this week. But I think the Emeya feels more special.

[V12 Migaloo]

what's the range you anticipate in getting??

[uktrailmonster]

V12 Migaloo said:

what's the range you anticipate in getting??

On a motorway trip cruising at 75 mph, at least 250 miles and probably a bit closer to 300 miles in ideal conditions. That’s with the 600 hp version. It’s not very efficient, but a large enough battery to compensate.

[TheDeuce]

uktrailmonster said:

V12 Migaloo said:

what's the range you anticipate in getting??

On a motorway trip cruising at 75 mph, at least 250 miles and probably a bit closer to 300 miles in ideal conditions. That s with the 600 hp version. It s not very efficient, but a large enough battery to compensate.

That's a little more than I get in my M50 but it's never bothered me, never slowed me down on a long journey - it's just a non factor now that chargers are so prevelant and the cars charge so quickly.

[V12 Migaloo]

OK that's interesting to hear, still looking at these or the Xi 60, that states 430 miles or so, but in reality will be about 320 - 350 on the motorway. I think the leasing cost will be the deciding factor unfortunately.

[uktrailmonster]

V12 Migaloo said:

OK that's interesting to hear, still looking at these or the Xi 60, that states 430 miles or so, but in reality will be about 320 - 350 on the motorway. I think the leasing cost will be the deciding factor unfortunately.

The BMW iX60 is more like the Lotus Eletre SUV than the Emeya. The BMW i5 M60 is more like the Emeya. So I’m a bit surprised you are cross-shopping these, although I was kind of doing the same with the Polestar 3 SUV.

As for leasing costs, BMWs appear to be far cheaper than Lotus. I would probably lease a BMW, but cash buy a Lotus with a hefty discount. You can get over £20k off list at the moment on a 600. Some of the BMW EV lease deals look amazing though.

[V12 Migaloo]

I get your point about cross shopping, going for some adidas gazelles and ending up with brogues... but this for me is where electric cars are unfortunately, a quiet comfy daily, local commute then a weekly blast up north and back... the i5 range and interior is just not there.... the Electra range also.. Would never cross shop an Emira... the iX whilst polarising is, I think one of their top three cars at the mo..

[uktrailmonster]

V12 Migaloo said:

I get your point about cross shopping, going for some adidas gazelles and ending up with brogues... but this for me is where electric cars are unfortunately, a quiet comfy daily, local commute then a weekly blast up north and back... the i5 range and interior is just not there.... the Electra range also.. Would never cross shop an Emira... the iX whilst polarising is, I think one of their top three cars at the mo..

Ah I see what you mean. I also ruled out the Eletre SUV because of it’s poor range. But I think the Emeya 600 has just enough range for those longer motorway trips and looks amazing in the flesh!

Have you considered the new iX3? Slightly less visually challenging than the iX and huge range. I’m sure the lease deals on those will be attractive after the initial launch phase. List pricing is surprisingly keen. But I realise there are some great deals on the iX at the moment, so I can see the appeal.

[V12 Migaloo]

uktrailmonster said:

Ah I see what you mean. I also ruled out the Eletre SUV because of it s poor range. But I think the Emeya 600 has just enough range for those longer motorway trips and looks amazing in the flesh!

Have you considered the new iX3? Slightly less visually challenging than the iX and huge range. I m sure the lease deals on those will be attractive after the initial launch phase. List pricing is surprisingly keen. But I realise there are some great deals on the iX at the moment, so I can see the appeal.

Yes I have looked at most things, I actually prefer the next gen design of the iX over the iX3, and the fact I'm transitioning from a Q7 to a smaller car just wouldn't do! Going to wait till after the budget in any case, but will do some more digging on the Emeya monthlies.....

[TheDeuce]

V12 Migaloo said:

uktrailmonster said:

Ah I see what you mean. I also ruled out the Eletre SUV because of it s poor range. But I think the Emeya 600 has just enough range for those longer motorway trips and looks amazing in the flesh!

Have you considered the new iX3? Slightly less visually challenging than the iX and huge range. I m sure the lease deals on those will be attractive after the initial launch phase. List pricing is surprisingly keen. But I realise there are some great deals on the iX at the moment, so I can see the appeal.

Yes I have looked at most things, I actually prefer the next gen design of the iX over the iX3, and the fact I'm transitioning from a Q7 to a smaller car just wouldn't do! Going to wait till after the budget in any case, but will do some more digging on the Emeya monthlies.....

I'm interested in the ix3 as a next car, I quite like the idea of getting back into an SUV... I used to hate SUV's but electrification has removed the traditional drawbacks of such cars.

But I wouldn't be swayed on my choice of car by it's range credentials... I understand that new to EV drivers worry about range and 'more is better'... But actually making use of more than 200 miles real world range is something that will happen so infrequently for most drivers that they're better off putting other aspects of their car choice ahead of range.

[uktrailmonster]

V12 Migaloo said:

uktrailmonster said:

Ah I see what you mean. I also ruled out the Eletre SUV because of it s poor range. But I think the Emeya 600 has just enough range for those longer motorway trips and looks amazing in the flesh!

Have you considered the new iX3? Slightly less visually challenging than the iX and huge range. I m sure the lease deals on those will be attractive after the initial launch phase. List pricing is surprisingly keen. But I realise there are some great deals on the iX at the moment, so I can see the appeal.

Yes I have looked at most things, I actually prefer the next gen design of the iX over the iX3, and the fact I'm transitioning from a Q7 to a smaller car just wouldn't do! Going to wait till after the budget in any case, but will do some more digging on the Emeya monthlies.....

It will be interesting to see what monthlies you can find on an Emeya. They didn’t look good when I last checked. They look very expensive on lease or PCP. Big cash discounts available though on both new and ex-demo. Depreciation is still likely to be heavy, but that’s inevitable. BMW EV lease deals were looking very attractive but I’m just not that keen on any of them!

[uktrailmonster]

TheDeuce said:

I'm interested in the ix3 as a next car, I quite like the idea of getting back into an SUV... I used to hate SUV's but electrification has removed the traditional drawbacks of such cars.

But I wouldn't be swayed on my choice of car by it's range credentials... I understand that new to EV drivers worry about range and 'more is better'... But actually making use of more than 200 miles real world range is something that will happen so infrequently for most drivers that they're better off putting other aspects of their car choice ahead of range.

I’m not that focused on range either, but the Eletre falls a bit short for me. I found the difference between a 200 and 250 mile real world range surprisingly large for my usage. An extra 50 miles meant that I didn’t have to charge on several of my regular round-trip journeys.

For me the ideal motorway range would be around 300 miles and anything above that would be dead weight for 99% of the time. My minimum is 250 miles and the Emeya passes, while the Eletre falls a bit short. Fortunately, I prefer the Emeya anyway.

[TheDeuce]

uktrailmonster said:

TheDeuce said:

I'm interested in the ix3 as a next car, I quite like the idea of getting back into an SUV... I used to hate SUV's but electrification has removed the traditional drawbacks of such cars.

But I wouldn't be swayed on my choice of car by it's range credentials... I understand that new to EV drivers worry about range and 'more is better'... But actually making use of more than 200 miles real world range is something that will happen so infrequently for most drivers that they're better off putting other aspects of their car choice ahead of range.

I m not that focused on range either, but the Eletre falls a bit short for me. I found the difference between a 200 and 250 mile real world range surprisingly large for my usage. An extra 50 miles meant that I didn t have to charge on several of my regular round-trip journeys.

For me the ideal motorway range would be around 300 miles and anything above that would be dead weight for 99% of the time. My minimum is 250 miles and the Emeya passes, while the Eletre falls a bit short. Fortunately, I prefer the Emeya anyway.

My current car will do 250 miles real world range, which admittedly has resulted in me is Ng public chargers slightly less on longer journeys compared to my old iPace.

But... Despite needing to charge slightly less often, I'm not actually stopping less often or saving any time. If I'm driving 200+ miles then at some point during that 3.5-4 hour period I'm going to stop for a break/food/toilet break whatever I'm driving - it doesn't matter if I need to plug in at the same time or not really.

It used to matter as chargers were less reliable and plentiful a few years ago, but now there's always available high speed chargers at every services I might use on a longer journey. They all work without needing an app too!

If BMW offered me a free upgrade to my car that would either add 100 miles additional range OR remove 200kg of weight, I'd choose the latter.

[uktrailmonster]

TheDeuce said:

My current car will do 250 miles real world range, which admittedly has resulted in me is Ng public chargers slightly less on longer journeys compared to my old iPace.

But... Despite needing to charge slightly less often, I'm not actually stopping less often or saving any time. If I'm driving 200+ miles then at some point during that 3.5-4 hour period I'm going to stop for a break/food/toilet break whatever I'm driving - it doesn't matter if I need to plug in at the same time or not really.

It used to matter as chargers were less reliable and plentiful a few years ago, but now there's always available high speed chargers at every services I might use on a longer journey. They all work without needing an app too!

If BMW offered me a free upgrade to my car that would either add 100 miles additional range OR remove 200kg of weight, I'd choose the latter.

I do a few weekly round trips of just over 200 miles. My first EV could barely manage that range at motorway speed and often required a top up charge on the way home, especially in winter. With a 250 mile motorway range in any conditions I never have to stop to charge on those journeys and it’s often in rush hour on the way back.

So it all depends on your use case and especially the length of any regular round trips where you wouldn’t normally stop unless you had to. Like today I’m driving into London and back, which is around 100 miles each way. I can do that easily with a 250 mile range without stopping on the way home in heavy traffic. With my old car it would have been a close call and I often had to top up on the M40 to make it home.

[V12 Migaloo]

uktrailmonster said:

I do a few weekly round trips of just over 200 miles. My first EV could barely manage that range at motorway speed and often required a top up charge on the way home, especially in winter. With a 250 mile motorway range in any conditions I never have to stop to charge on those journeys and it s often in rush hour on the way back.

So it all depends on your use case and especially the length of any regular round trips where you wouldn't t normally stop unless you had to. Like today I m driving into London and back, which is around 100 miles each way. I can do that easily with a 250 mile range without stopping on the way home in heavy traffic. With my old car it would have been a close call and I often had to top up on the M40 to make it home.

I'm looking at similar scenarios, I have put my preferred motorway range at 300 miles, 280 in all weathers with no compromises on electrical usage (seats, heater, sounds etc...) I believe the iX60 can do that, would've loved the Electra to have done the same.

[TheDeuce]

uktrailmonster said:

TheDeuce said:

My current car will do 250 miles real world range, which admittedly has resulted in me is Ng public chargers slightly less on longer journeys compared to my old iPace.

But... Despite needing to charge slightly less often, I'm not actually stopping less often or saving any time. If I'm driving 200+ miles then at some point during that 3.5-4 hour period I'm going to stop for a break/food/toilet break whatever I'm driving - it doesn't matter if I need to plug in at the same time or not really.

It used to matter as chargers were less reliable and plentiful a few years ago, but now there's always available high speed chargers at every services I might use on a longer journey. They all work without needing an app too!

If BMW offered me a free upgrade to my car that would either add 100 miles additional range OR remove 200kg of weight, I'd choose the latter.

I do a few weekly round trips of just over 200 miles. My first EV could barely manage that range at motorway speed and often required a top up charge on the way home, especially in winter. With a 250 mile motorway range in any conditions I never have to stop to charge on those journeys and it s often in rush hour on the way back.

So it all depends on your use case and especially the length of any regular round trips where you wouldn t normally stop unless you had to. Like today I m driving into London and back, which is around 100 miles each way. I can do that easily with a 250 mile range without stopping on the way home in heavy traffic. With my old car it would have been a close call and I often had to top up on the M40 to make it home.

I actually used to do a similar 200 mile out and back drive to London occasionally in my old iPace, it did push the limits of range but all that was required was a 5-10 minute stop on the way down to add more than enough miles for the return leg. I'd plug in, go grab a coffee and fire off a couple of work emails.

Don't get me wrong, I do like not having to stop at all on the same trip now, but realistically my additional stops probably added up to less than an hour a year. Would I inconvenience myself by an hour per year if it made the difference between me having the car I wanted for reasons other than range...? Yep.

The same way all my previous ICE cars were very inconvenient on my wallet... I liked the cars so I ignored the inconvenience.

[uktrailmonster]

TheDeuce said:

I actually used to do a similar 200 mile out and back drive to London occasionally in my old iPace, it did push the limits of range but all that was required was a 5-10 minute stop on the way down to add more than enough miles for the return leg. I'd plug in, go grab a coffee and fire off a couple of work emails.

Don't get me wrong, I do like not having to stop at all on the same trip now, but realistically my additional stops probably added up to less than an hour a year. Would I inconvenience myself by an hour per year if it made the difference between me having the car I wanted for reasons other than range...? Yep.

The same way all my previous ICE cars were very inconvenient on my wallet... I liked the cars so I ignored the inconvenience.

I don’t mind stopping when the journey is far longer than my range, but I wouldn’t buy a car that was only fractionally short of the range needed for my regular weekly round trips. Fortunately the Emeya does have enough range anyway.