The pure electric Lotus Emeya GT looks and drives like a modern Lotus should

The Lotus Emeya is the fourth instalment of Lotus Cars’ 21st-century rebirth after the Evija electric hypercar, the Emira ‘last hurrah’ petrol sports car, and Eletre electric large SUV. The storied British performance brand is calling the all-electric Emeya a ‘Hyper GT’ and to be fair, its top-level 918 hp R version can comfortably accommodate four or five people and their luggage, as well as accelerate from 0-62 mph in only 2.8 seconds in an uncannily quiet and controlled manner.

Top speed is an eye-popping 159mph where laws allow – including where Wallpaper* tested the car in Germany – and in regular spec, its 379-mile range and quick charging capability certainly make a ‘Grand Tour’ possible.

Lotus Emeya on the road

Out on the road, the car’s pleasingly chiselled and polished form and hunkered-down stance certainly cut a dash – aided by its historically brand-appropriate bright yellow paintwork – and a different underfloor battery structure saves 20mm in height compared to the pack in the Eletre, allowing the Emeya’s roofline to remain low whilst also providing good rear headroom.

Despite those look-at-me looks, there’s subtlety and function to the Emeya’s exterior too. Its front and rear side ducts really do let air through them for aerodynamic benefit – unlike so many other sporty-looking cars with fake vents. And while the lower centre front grille appears to be solid, when more cooling is needed, triangular flaps within it open automatically to enable airflow. A rear spoiler also pops up when necessary at higher speeds and the overall result is a highly credible 0.21Cd drag coefficient.

Elsewhere, you might notice a flush oval ring cut into the black roof just above the windscreen’s top edge – which hides a deployable sensor for assisted highway driving – and another pair of gloss black-clad cameras sensitively integrated into the design of the exterior front doors to future-proof the Emeya for higher levels of autonomous driving.

Other cutting-edge exterior tech includes optional slim rearview cameras, instead of bulkier wing mirrors, with real-time images from behind the car relayed to the driver via small screens nestling towards the hinge of each interior door.

The Emeya’s cabin is a massive jump forward from the bare-bones Lotus interiors of old (and visually akin to the newer Eletre). A high centre console between the two front seats engenders a cocooning feeling and in the middle of the two-tone, horizontally aligned dashboard a large landscape-shaped 15.1in OLED touchscreen is flanked by slim 12.6in driver and passenger displays.

Pretty intuitive to use, its grey and yellow colour scheme can make viewing tricky in bright sunlight at certain angles, but the brightness and contrast can be adjusted. The Emeya is also easy to link with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone software and a 55in head-up display makes key information visible while keeping your eyes on the road ahead.

The rear seats offer great knee room due to the EV-only platform and super-long three-metre plus wheelbase. Opening up the large fastback-style hatch reveals a practical-to-access 509-litre boot space, with 1,388 litres possible when rear seats are folded. A 31-litre space under the bonnet is a good place to hide this EV’s charging cables and Lotus makes much of the car’s quick recharging potential – 10-80 per cent in 14 minutes using a 400kW DC fast charger – or 0-100 per cent in 5.5 hours via a more commonplace 22kW AC wallbox.

All models employ the same 102kWh battery and Lotus says its entry-level, single-speed 820hp version offers a 379-mile range, while the equivalent-power mid-range Emeya S provides 336 miles and the high-performance two-speed Emeya R has a range of 270 miles.

All-wheel drive with intelligent torque distribution and electronically controlled air suspension comes as standard, as does excellent responsive steering and brakes, to collectively ensure that whatever Emeya you choose, you’re in for a genuinely engaging drive and a guaranteed smile-on-your-face experience. First deliveries are due in Europe from late summer 2024.

Lotus Emeya, from £89,500, LotusCars.com, @LotusCars