Lotus joins the SUV club - a case of ‘enlarge, then add conformity’?

A Lotus SUV! Heavy as a brick! Huge as a castle! Built in China!

Boo. Hiss.

From the perspective of a Lotus idealist, that would be all there is to be said about the truly all-new Lotus Eletre, the recently unveiled antithesis to all previous cars from Hethel (whose contrarian character means that it wasn’t even designed there).

Idealism, strange though it may sound, is among the much finer, less than robust threads that form the fabric of the Lotus brand, however. Especially when Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was calling the shots, cunning and creativity were the dominant components of Lotus’ essence, lightweight construction being the main means by which those qualities manifested themselves. After all, Chapman was, by all even-handed accounts, no preacher propagating a strict orthodoxy, but someone who liked success - also and especially of the monetary variety. The straightest path towards which, in today’s car industry, is most easily accessed by SUV. Boo, hiss.

In that sense, the Eletre oughtn’t be compared to either the phased-out Elise or the upcoming Emira. Nor even the Paolo-Martin-penned Lotus saloon envisaged during the late ‘70s - despite that project proving, in theory at least, that Chapman was willing to put the Lotus name onto automobiles other than featherweight sports cars, as well.

The most relevant benchmarks for the Eletre are the likes of the Lamborghini Urus, BMW XM and Porsche Cayenne Coupé. What with the Lamborghini and Porsche having established that heavy, large four-door cars are by no means damaging to a thoroughbred sports car maker’s bank balance. Or reputation. The BMW might even prove that an equally socially and aesthetically repulsive appearance does not stand in the way of sales success.

Judged against these three cars, the Lotus seems less like a sacrilege, but an unexpectedly accomplished take on an inherently compromised concept. One might not appreciate the Eletre’s existence, but there’s no denying the quality of its design’s execution - beginning with its very good stance, which may be the most accomplished of any macho SUV’s so far. Less comically exaggerated, yet no less athletic (in the bodybuilder’s sense) than the Urus, the Lotus completely avoids the overbodied appearance of the BMW or visual bulkiness of the Porsche.

The front appears to be the Eletre’s least noteworthy aspect, owing to its rather generic sports car-inspired expression - which indeed is quite similar to the Urus’, albeit with more restrained graphics and a more tangible connection to aerodynamic function. The latter, of course, is among the design’s overall themes and bears some resemblance to the final generation of Pininfarina-designed Ferraris (the F12 in particular). While the scientific soundness of the several scoops and in-, as well as outlets ought to be scrutinised by those with a profound understanding of the matter, it certainly makes for an unusual, in parts even refreshing take on the established macho SUV template. To claim that it lends the Eletre a light appearance would take things too far, but even so, the choice to include only few, but large, visually impactful intakes and outlets certainly is unusual - applaudable, even.

At the rear, this visual approach is taken to the extreme, with some exceedingly clean surfaces and just a few graphics that emphasise, rather than distract from the dominant air outlets. Even the full-width light strip - already one of the top styling clichés of this nascent decade - seems a stylistically consistent solution, rather than some uninspired, by-the-numbers addition.

Instead of aerodynamics, the interior’s stylistic theme is devoted to lightweight construction, as symbolised by an intricately layered dashboard design and a large cavity underneath the central tunnel. The fabrics and trim used throughout the cabin certainly appear interesting, too - and naturally come with an underlying commitment to sustainability, unintentionally putting a spotlight on the inescapable sporty, utilitarian elephant in the room once more.

As fundamentally compromised pieces of design go, the Eletre is a bit of a miracle: A big, fat SUV that’s far more interesting than it has any right to be. Hoorah.