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THE new Lotus Eletre is probably the most exciting and controversial new car ever launched by the British brand. A large SUV that’s heavy, expensive, can drive itself and is built in China, not Norfolk – what would Lotus founder Colin Chapman think about it? In many ways it’s an inevitable evolution – as so many other car makers have found. This week also sees the first official pictures of the new Ferrari Purosangue, the Italian brand’s first SUV (although Ferrari calls it a Ferrari Utility Vehicle). What would Enzo Ferrari make of that? From an economic point of view, Lotus and Ferrari SUVs make complete sense; look at the success – and cash windfall – the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus have brought their makers. And we…

• Twin electric motors for four-wheel drive and at least 592bhp • Battery uses 800-volt charging tech and targets 373 miles of range LOTUS is entering a new era and a new sector of the market with its first-ever SUV, the all-electric Eletre. Retaining the British brand’s naming convention of models starting with an E, this new model has been described as “a momentous point in our history” by the brand’s managing director, Matt Windle. Based on an all-new 800-volt platform called Electric Premium Architecture, the Eletre is powered by a battery of more than 100kWh (an exact figure for available energy hasn’t been confirmed) that feeds a pair of electric motors – one on each axle – for a targeted minimum total power output of 592bhp. This will rise…

THE man who heads up the Coventry-based Lotus Tech Creative Centre talks us through how the brand has applied the Lotus ethos to a new class of car. Q Some fans of the brand will say an SUV can’t be a proper Lotus. What do you say to them? A “The Eletre is a Lotus through and through. The brand is changing and it’s a new vehicle for us in a new category, so it has a slightly different focus, but it’s still a Lotus at its core. We’ve applied the Lotus DNA – lightweight engineering and innovation – throughout the car in an EV context. The lightweight motor system, the materials, the aerodynamics, lots of clever technical solutions.” Q This is a new era of design for Lotus too,…

• Hybrid hatch on sale in autumn • European range fully electrified FOLLOWING its debut in US and Chinese specifications, Honda has revealed the all-new Mk11 Civic family hatch that we’ll get in the UK, and at launch all cars will be powered by a petrol-electric hybrid engine. Badged e:HEV, as on the Japanese firm’s HR-V compact SUV, the new technology will sit under the skin of all but the future range-topping Civic Type R hot hatchback, which will continue as a petrol-only model. We’ve already seen the 11th-generation Civic in US-market form as a saloon, but the fresh hatchback variant shows us what UK buyers can expect when the Honda goes on sale this autumn. Compared with the car it will replace, the 2022 Civic is somewhat toned down,…

HONDA’S hybrid charge will be bolstered in 2023 by the arrival of a new petrol-electric SUV next year, sitting alongside the e:Ny1 (pictured below). The brand believes that hybrid power still has a part to play in reducing CO2 emissions and helping customers transition to fully electric driving, with the new mid-size model (pictured right) set to rival the Toyota RAV4 and Kia Sportage family SUVs. Technical specs have not been given, but the new car (expected to cost from around £30,000) could feature the same 181bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric e:HEV set-up as the new Civic hatchback (pictured left).…

ALONGSIDE its new Civic hatch, Honda has confirmed that it will launch a new fully electric SUV next year, previewed by this e:Ny1 prototype. “Coming to market in 2023, this new B-segment [small] SUV EV will be at the centre of Honda’s future product line-up,” said Honda Europe president Katsuhisa Okuda. “Offering the unique blend of dynamics, technology and design that Honda is known for, this car will provide a great option for families looking for their first EV.” The production version of the e:Ny1 will be Honda’s second-ever full EV in Europe. The styling is based heavily on the brand’s 2020 SUV e:concept and the current-generation HR-V, although no technical basis has been outlined. However, Honda’s Chinese market e:NS1 and e:NP1 electric SUVs use a 66.8kWh battery for a…