2024 Lotus Emeya S review: Australian first drive

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2024 Lotus Emeya S

Sometimes when you buy an established company – I know, it happens to all of us, right? – you have to make changes. That can include anything from changing the internet service provider, switching everyone from Microsoft to Google (just because you can), or firing everybody in the building because you've just dropped $44 billion on a $5 billion company that went to court to force you to buy it.

Basic stuff. In 2017, Chinese automotive giant Geely bought a controlling stake in tiny Lotus, a British manufacturer that used to punch on with Ferrari in Formula 1 and win. Ayrton Senna made his mark driving for Lotus in the mid-eighties. It was a big deal.

It was a company very much famed for producing lightweight, stripped-out-but-innovative sports cars based on its racing success.

Chapman's commitment to weight-saving was summed up in the phrase "Simplify, then add lightness". Which he may not have actually said, but it's certainly stuck to him. Until very recently, Lotus made the Elise, a two-seater sports car built around an aluminium chassis that weighed around 80kg before everything was bolted in. The first road-going Elise was just 755kg, the last 914kg – it had air conditioning, a supercharged Toyota engine, and was a lot safer than the first.

Geely let Lotus get on with the old way of things until about 2022, when we were all busy looking the other way. The new management was spending a big chunk of the nearly $3 billion in new investment on upgrading the whole operation and building the Evija. 

It was then that we first learned about the Eletre SUV, a thing that was not 755kg, 914kg or even 1200kg. It was 2500kg. It was not powered by a Toyota engine of any description, but by two electric motors. And then a year later, its twin, a Taycan rival known internally as the Type 133, was confirmed and named Emeya.

In Australia, there are three available variants. All share the same 102kW battery with 99kW of usable capacity. Two of the three share the same 450kW/710Nm powertrain, while the third has a massive 675kW/985Nm set-up.

Emeya's maximum charge rate is 350kW. If you can find a 350kW charger, Lotus says you'll charge from 10 to 80 per cent in just 20 minutes. 

At the other end, a 22kW AC charge will take about five-and-a-half hours. At 3kW AC (if you’re caught wall charging on a 16A outlet), charge time is about 33 hours.

More realistically, you'll be charging DC away from home at 150kW, which means about 45 minutes to go from 10 to 80 per cent.

The WLTP range for Emeya and Emeya S is quoted at between 498 and 609km, which means consumption of 17.6kWh per 100 kilometres to 21.2kWh/100km, substantially less than the Eletre's consumption rate.

The range kicks off at $189,990 plus on-road costs for the Emeya. That nets you 20-inch alloy wheels, air suspension, powered steering column, seats and mirrors, automatic matrix LED headlights, four-zone climate control, efficient heat pump heating, heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging, keyless entry and start (either with a NFC key card, the triangular ‘stone’ key fob, or your phone) and a tyre repair kit.

Lotus seemed to have gone to Geely's screen shop and got one of everything. The instrument cluster measures 12.6 inches, the media screen 15.1 inches, while the rear seats share an 8.0-inch control unit. Added to that is a monstrous 23-inch widescreen head-up display that's not as obstructive as it sounds.

The main touchscreen has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, FM and DAB radio, as well as plenty of settings and status screens. Lotus Connect offers emergency and roadside assistance calling via the car's inbuilt 5G connection. You can also use your phone as a digital key, preset the satellite navigation (which will also route you via charging stations if required), and operate some functions via the phone app. 

In the car, Lotus Connect offers the usual voice control, over-the-air updates and an app store.

The $209,990 Emeya S changes out the 20-inch alloys for 21s, adds bigger six-piston calipers, glass roof, the Touring Pack (includes hands-free tailgate, soft door close and some interior lighting), Comfort Seat Pack (upgraded seats), auto parking and a lidar system.

At $259,990, the Emeya R steps up the power to 675kW, adds a two-speed transmission, track mode, anti-roll suspension, rear-wheel steering and lots of styling additions. It's a lot of money for a lot of performance and only hits the range figure by 60km (in normal driving, obviously).

The Emeya has a commanding road presence, measuring 5.139m long and over two metres wide. Its 3056mm wheelbase could just contain the original 3054mm Mini. There's a strange fact you didn't know before.

With that kind of heft, you get plenty of interior space. The interior is virtually identical to the Eletre SUV, so is nicely detailed for the most part, roomy and airy, particularly the glass roof in opaque or clear modes.

The rear seats are very comfortable and the floor isn't as high as some EVs. Three across is eminently doable, although the roof might be a little low for taller folk. Leg room is expansive.

You have a folding armrest with a clever wireless charge pad under a lid, two cupholders, plenty of vents and controls for the two zones of climate control.

The boot will swallow 509 litres in five-seat-configured cars. With the rear seats down, the available space is 1388L. Obviously the absence of a spare tyre helps these numbers. Under the short bonnet you'll find a petite 34L box that should hold the AC charging cable.

Front-seat passengers sit in fantastically comfortable and adjustable seats. The huge windscreen is pretty heavily raked but the bonnet is low so there's a good view out. Rear vision is a little restricted but the various cameras save the day.

The driving position was just right for me at 180cm, and I really like the squared-off steering wheel. I don't really like the chintz of the paddles, but I like the way they're split in two to allow easy access to regen level selection and driving mode selection.

Generally I find the combination of materials and colours not to my personal liking, but you can't argue with the quality and look and feel of just about everything.

Despite all that power, the Emeya is very easy to toddle around in. While it's big, it still feels reasonably athletic and the air suspension never got into the weird porpoising or crabbing-feeling some systems get over broken surfaces. It was only a short drive, but that's something to keep an eye on in longer drives.

The driving modes are reasonably distinct. Each has a different approach to throttle response (doughy at one end, sharp at the other) and regen braking (strongest at one end, off at the other). Range mode will be perfect in traffic and the suburbs without being as frustrating.

I'm not sure the regen braking is as strong as I'd like, but I had no exposure to stop-start traffic. It did feel easy to park, though, without the grabbiness of some EVs at trickling speeds.

It was very lovely out on the 21km drive loop, though. Those roads were a mix of highways and B-roads covered in patches and potholes. The Emeya is very quiet, even with all that rubber on the tarmac, and felt very capable.

Unless you absolutely mash the throttle, the step-off is smooth and builds up quickly without the uncomfortable lurching of, say, a Tesla Model S or X. The mid-range is epic, however, with 710Nm pouring through the tyres seemingly unabated, with that clichéd jump-to-lightspeed vibe. Overtaking shouldn't be a problem.

Complaints about the Emeya are similar to the Eletre – the touchscreen targets are a bit small and are hard to hit on the move if the car is moving around a bit. A couple of slightly tacky details mar an otherwise lovely cabin. It is an absolute whopper, too, which is not just from the point of view of a die-hard Lotus fan, but it is just plain big. Like, Bentley Flying Spur big.

Like the Eletre, though, you can instantly feel the depth of the engineering. Ultimately, that's what Lotus is all about. With few exceptions, every car on the planet is chunky compared to one, two or three decades ago. Add to that the impost of battery electric and the imperative for car companies to go electric, this is where Lotus was always going to end up – not just to sell lots of cars, but for survival.

It will be fascinating to see how the Emeya fares not just against the Taycan and e-tron GT, but its stablemate, the Eletre. Out of these premium brands, Lotus is the only one with both a fast EV sedan and SUV. And those two cars are all about finding a new audience and not pleasing the old one.

Sadly, that's business. But at least the Emeya is fast, capable and extremely well engineered.

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