900 HP Tri-Motor Lotus Eletre Reportedly Coming In Two Years' Time

It will reportedly be considerably lighter than a Tesla Model X Plaid, so it will be even quicker.

By: Andrei Nedelea

Mar 31, 2022 at 8:45am ET

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Lotus has taken an important step towards becoming a more mainstream manufacturer with its first attainable electric model, the Eletre SUV. The company has so far only announced that power outputs will start at 600 horsepower, but a new report adds more information that was not officially mentioned during its reveal.

TopGear tries to answer one of the hottest questions regarding the Eletre, which has to do with its weight. Now keep in mind that it is around the same size as a Lamborghini Urus or Audi Q8, but it also has a big (and very heavy) over 100 kWh battery pack whose mass will surely turn the Eletre into a vehicle that weighs at least two tons.

The source report indicates that the Lotus Eletre will weigh exactly two tons (around 4,400 pounds), which is actually not bad for something its size, and it should therefore also exhibit very agile handling for a vehicle of its type, a characteristic that is essential for the Lotus badge to seem justified on this vehicle. Based on this information, the Eletre would be among the lightest vehicles of this size and type.

Gallery: Lotus Eletre

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This information makes the prospect of the other announcement made in the source article even more enticing - it says the top performance version of the Lotus Eletre will feature a tri-motor setup (with two motors driving the rear wheels) and an output of 900 horsepower, which in the context of its lower-than-average weight, should result in the quickest acceleration out of all similar vehicles.

For comparison, the newly launched Tesla Model X Plaid has 1,006 horsepower and can sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.6 seconds. Lotus has already said the 600 horsepower version of the Eletre will drop below 3 seconds in the benchmark sprint, so a 900 horsepower model could drop that to under 2.5 seconds, or around that value.