Lotus Emeya Review & Prices

The Lotus Emeya is a high-powered electric car for the digital age – while everyone’s buying big SUVs these days, Lotus has bunged its new-age electric tech inside an increasingly old school, saloon-like body style. It’s a bit like taking a PlayStation 5’s internals and placing them inside the sleek shape of a PS One.

The Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT are the only obvious alternatives because they have a similar sleek-yet-saloon-like shape and sporty driving credentials, but you could also consider more comfort- and luxury-focused EVs such as the BMW i7 and Mercedes EQS.

While the Emeya’s sorta-saloon, sorta-hatchback body style almost feels like a throwback nowadays, its styling certainly isn’t. This Lotus looks like a concept car on the road, with its aggressive front end, triple-stacked headlights and sculpted curves. The rear’s a bit awkward to look at, but overall this is a visually arresting car.

Lotus Emeya: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 270-379 miles
Efficiency: 2.5-3.5 miles per kWh
Battery size: 99kWh
Max charge speed: 350kW
Charge time AC: 5hrs 30mins, 10-80%, 22kW
Charge time DC: 18mins, 10-80%, 350kW
Charge port location: Left rear
Power outputs: 603hp, 905hp

There’s nothing awkward about the interior, which is absolutely lovely, from the cool, modern design to the ultra-high-quality materials used throughout. You also get a big touchscreen that’s quick to respond to inputs and logically laid out with sharp, modern graphics. Slim driver and passenger displays are just about subtle enough to not feel like they get in the way.

It’s spacious, too, with room for four adults to sit comfortably, and useful storage for those in the front. If you’re after a low, sporty driving position you might be disappointed as the seat doesn’t drop all the way down like it does in a Taycan. The upshot is you have a great view over the dashboard.

Despite its massive battery, the inefficiency of the Emeya’s electric motors means its range is disappointing compared with alternatives. The entry-level model’s 379 miles in official tests is respectable, and identical to the BMW i7 in base trim, but long-range versions of the Porsche Taycan and Mercedes EQS can travel comfortably in excess of 400 miles on a charge. In the real world, our testing indicated you would be lucky to get more than 250 miles out of the Emeya, even if you drive painfully carefully.

Fortunately, ultra-fast charging means that at least your road trip charge stops should be pretty short. Even with its big battery, going from 10-80% takes just 20 minutes if you can find a charger that can match the Emeya’s 350kW capacity.

Although a big, heavy electric saloon car is about as far from the traditional Lotus driver-focused model – Lotus Carlton aside – that DNA is evident in the way the Emeya drives. We tested the 600 model, which has more than enough power to make you giggle out of every corner, bundles of grip and direct steering that makes it a joy to drive.

Just about the only complaint is that the Emeya is so huge it can be tricky to relax behind the wheel anywhere other than a wide open motorway, while the brakes are hyper-sensitive at low speeds.

If you’re looking for a luxury electric car, and want something a bit different from what the traditional posh German brands have to offer, check out the latest Lotus Emeya deals on Carwow. You can also browse Lotus Emeya lease deals, used Lotus Emeyas for sale and other used Lotus cars from our network of trusted dealers. Carwow can help you sell your car when the time comes, too.

The Lotus Emeya starts at around £85,000, which is actually pretty reasonable by luxury EV standards. The Porsche Taycan starts at about £5,000 less, but despite the fact it goes considerably further on a charge, it’s not as roomy and doesn’t feel as luxurious inside. Luxury electric limos like the BMW i7 and Mercedes EQS start at around £100,000, as does the Audi e-tron GT.

The 603hp version is badged ‘600’ and has four trims that increase in equipment, technology and sporty style as the price increases, with the 600 Sport SE at the top costing around £105,000. The 905hp model, badged ‘900’ is available in just two trims, and the top-spec Sport Carbon comes in at a hefty £140,000.

A delight to drive and comfortable for long journeys, but its size can make it a bit nerve-wracking in town

In town

This is not the easiest car to drive around town. To give its size some context, you’ll often find yourself hanging over the edge of parking spaces, and you’ll get a sweat on every time the sat nav takes you down a narrow car-lined street. On top of this the brakes are hyper-sensitive, so it takes time to get used to how little input is required to come to a stop.

Fortunately you do get a silly number of cameras on the outside so you can use the screen to navigate gaps, and it displays how many centimetres you have to an object so you can really thread the needle at times. Four-wheel steering, as found on alternatives, would be nice at this price, and help you manoeuvre when parking.

The suspension has a sporty edge, so rough roads don’t become pillowy smooth like they do in a BMW i7, but it never feels annoyingly stiff. The seat doesn’t drop very low, but then you do get a pretty good view forward as a result.

On the motorway

Long motorway runs are where the Emeya comes into its own. The suspension soaks up all but the worst road imperfections and there’s very little wind and road noise to contend with. And with all that performance, you don’t have to worry about getting up to motorway speeds or pulling off overtakes.

You get adaptive cruise control as standard, which holds your speed while maintaining the distance to the car in front. However, the base trim is the only version that doesn’t get Highway Assist, which is a semi-autonomous driving aid that keeps you centred in your lane as you drive. It’s not essential, though, because it’s annoyingly intrusive and much easier to use the basic cruise control.

On a twisty road

It’s rare that electric cars are particularly fun to drive down a twisty road. Fast, yes, and the Lotus Emeya certainly falls into that category, but what it also manages to do is be genuinely rewarding and capable in corners. Funnily enough, the Porsche Taycan is one of the few other cars to really do this, so there’s not a great deal to choose between the two.

Where the Porsche wins though is size. It’s not much narrower, but it shrinks around you much better and gives you more confidence to enjoy a winding road. The Emeya is incredibly capable, though. At no point did we feel like we needed the extra performance of the 900, and in fact, our experience with the Lotus Eletre 900 hints that it would just feel like overkill anyway. No one needs that much power on the road.

Roomy cabin and a big boot, but a Porsche Taycan has more space in the frunk

Wherever you sit in the Lotus Emeya you’ll have ample space, and despite the large centre console the front is still big and airy. Perhaps the only complaint is that the driver’s seat doesn’t go particularly low – this is good for visibility out the front but means a Taycan feels sportier behind the wheel.

Storage is good, with a huge space under the armrest and useful door bins. The two cup holders have movable floors, so you can push them down when you want to carry something, or have them sit flush with the armrest when you don’t. There’s a wireless charging pad under the main screen, but it’s quite flat, so your phone has a tendency to fly out of it when you accelerate hard.

Space in the back seats

Those in the back have plenty of legroom and headroom; it’s nowhere near as cosy as a Porsche Taycan, with the only minor complaint being that there’s not huge amounts of space for your feet.

You can also pay extra – more than in the Eletre, interestingly – for an Executive Pack, which amongst other things, creates a four-seat layout. Do this and there’s a fixed central armrest in the back with more storage, two cup holders and a screen to control things like the massage seats.

All this space means there’s plenty of room for a child seat and the ISOFIX mounting points are easy to access. Having to bend down to a low saloon means it’s not quite as easy to get kids in as an SUV, such as the Eletre, though.

Boot space

At 509 litres the boot should be ample enough for most families, though the low roofline means that it can be tricky to load up larger items. Indeed, that’s more capacity than the BMW i7 (500 litres) and Porsche Taycan (407 litres), though the Mercedes EQS wins here with a massive 620 litres.

The Emeya does get a front boot, but at 34 litres it’s considerably smaller than the Taycan’s 84-litre frunk. It’s a neat place to store charging cables but not much else.

A gorgeous interior with high quality materials and excellent infotainment, but the climate control switches aren’t pleasant to use

The interior is a particular highlight of the Emeya. Quite how a brand known for largely Spartan interiors, stripped of all luxuries in the name of weight saving, has built an interior that puts BMW, Audi and Mercedes to shame is anyone’s guess.

It has, though. The cabin design is interesting without feeling overly fussy, and all the materials are of the highest quality. More than that, it feels well put together so it won’t start falling apart halfway through your lease term.

The infotainment system is one of the best in the business. In the centre of the dashboard is a 15.1-inch OLED display, so the graphics are super-sharp and it responds quickly to your inputs.

The menu design is largely logical, so it’s easy to find random settings on the move. You also get various shortcuts at the top of the screen, the most useful of which is the one to quickly turn off the more intrusive driver assistance systems.

There are actually three displays, with a slim screen either side of the main infotainment for the driver and passenger. Because they’re narrow they sit neatly within the dashboard and don’t feel too intrusive.

The KEF sound system in our test car was incredible and almost worth the price of admission alone if you’re a big music fan.

Whether you go for the 600 or 900, the Lotus Eletre has the same battery pack with a usable capacity of 99kWh. The 600 comes with 603hp and the 900 has a frankly ludicrous 905hp.

Unsurprisingly all the performance impacts range. Officially the most you’ll get from the 900 is 301 miles, but the 600 will do up to 379 miles in base trim.

However, our real-world testing shows that the Emeya is an inefficient electric car. During a range test video, we went 194 miles in the 900, averaging just 2.2 miles per kWh. After a week with the 600 we saw 2.6mi/kWh, equivalent to nearly 260 miles from a charge.

Official figures put the entry version of the Audi e-tron GT at 375 miles of range, but you can expect to go further than the Emeya out in the real world. If range is your key concern you can get versions of the Porsche Taycan and Mercedes EQS that will comfortably clear 400 miles on a charge.

All electric cars qualify for the lowest first-year Vehicle Excise Duty band, but the Emeya qualifies for the expensive car supplement in years two to six. It’s also in the lowest Benefit-in-Kind band for company car buyers.

The Lotus Emeya is far too low volume to be put through Euro NCAP safety testing, but it might be reassuring to know that Lotus is owned by the same company that builds Volvo and Polestar cars, which are both known for scoring well for safety.

You get plenty of standard safety kit, including lane-keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control and blind spot warning. You have to step up from the base model to get Highway Assist, which is a semi-autonomous driving aid that’s essentially a really advanced adaptive cruise control.

It’s impossible to estimate the Emeya’s reliability because it’s a new model and so few have been sold. However, you get a reassuringly good warranty – at five years and 100,000 miles it’s better than you usually get for a posh car.