Should you buy one?

The Lotus Eletre is a very capable new entry into the ranks of the super-fast, desirable electric SUVs, and on the basis of our first drive, it’s at or near the top of the class. Yes, it’s a bit of an unknown compared with a BMW or Mercedes, but it’s made a big splash. If it’s well-made and reliable and the dealer network backs this up, it could be a contender.

It’s here to grow Lotus into a serious premium manufacturer – and boost production from under 800 units last year to a targeted 175,000 cars by 2030. There’s no escaping market trends, and SUVs like this is where the money is.

But what of the car itself? It drives well, ticks the boxes for steering, braking and acceleration, and offers huge acceleration in S form. If that’s the winning formula, then the Eletre is right on track.

What we like

As well as being good to drive, the Eletre is roomy, especially in the rear, the interior is well built and trimmed beautifully and the infotainment set-up is largely very good.

What we don’t like

Like all large SUVs, it’s massively heavy compared with its already portly ICE-powered rivals, and as such, it probably won’t be too pleasant to thread through your averagely-sized UK village, town or city.