British carmaker Lotus has unveiled its first electric vehicle, an AWD SUV with deliveries likely to start rolling in from next year across several markets. The Lotus 600HP Eletre is a hyper SUV that packs power, speed, and innovation into a single unit. The Lotus 600HP Eletre comes with five doors and reflects a similar design philosophy as the Emira sports car. It also reflects some characteristics of the all-electric Evija hypercar.

Lotus is calling the 600HP Eletre an hyper SUV. It is the first-ever five-door production car, the first lifestyle EV, the first Lotus offering outside the sports car segment, and the most connected model from the company so far. Although there are some key details still lacking for the model, the company says it could have a monster range of 373 miles (600km). This would mean that the Eletre could be competing with some of the heavy hitters in the market like the Tesla Model X Long Range Plus. The 600HP motor is capable of producing top speeds of 161mph (259km/h) and it can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in under three seconds.

The Eletre’s exterior design features an efficient aerodynamics design developed by a team led by Ben Payne. The Lotus 600HP Eletre seems to have placed a marker of performance for other models that will emerge. It is an elegant, efficient, and high-speed SUV. Its interior sports recyclable materials which are also durable.

The interior of the 600HP Eletre is a marvel to behold. The infotainment system and the entire interior sports cutting-edge and innovative gadgets and an exciting design. It is the first vehicle in the market with a deployable LIDAR system. This is used to supplement the driver-assist system in the EV. The LIDAR functionality will become a mainstay of autonomous vehicles and its presence in the Eletre is impressive. The car has been designed with the future in mind and it can accept OTA updates going forward.

There is no pricing information for the Lotus 600HP Eletre but we expect the details to be out as progress is made to its eventual release in 2023. Production will be done in the company’s new production facility in Wuhan, China. Some of the markets that will see the Lotus 600HP Eletre SUV are China, Europe, and the United Kingdom from 2023.

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