Lotus Eletre

[Shlergen]

Looks alright in my book but at 100k how many will they actually sell.

[Swervin_Mervin]

A coupe is generally a 2 seater so won’t normally be the family car. When you have a big 5 door 4x4 but either an impractical sized box in the back or a sloped back which doesn’t take a lot then it just turns into a pointless thing.

Dave!

Dave - SUVs are already pointless things.

Don’t make me start the “estates aren’t built for big dogs and they take up less space” rant again

Dave!

Do it!

[Mito Man]

The 4x4 “coupes” whilst being much smaller in the back are more teardrop shaped so should be more aerodynamic. The other problem is tall cars which have arched backs like that do look a bit like a dog squatting mid dump.

[ZedLeg]

Frontal area and rolling resistance of the huge tyres would have more impact on efficiency than air flow over the back of the car I’d imagine. The traditional SUV/Estate long roof flat back shape is pretty efficient as it is iirc.

[mik]

The 4x4 “coupes” whilst being much smaller in the back are more teardrop shaped so should be more aerodynamic.

Back to the E-Tron example - 0.27 for chunky, 0.26 for sportscrack.

[RobYob]

Here's some numbers to keep in mind about just how dominant aerodynamics is in regards to range.

"The Audi e-tron prototype is better than a conventional SUV of comparable size by just under 70 cd points – in terms of range, that’s a gain of around 35 kilometers (21.7 mi)."

So if I'm remembering what a Cd "point" is correctly (0.0001) that's a Cd change of ~ 70/2500 or 3%

https://www.audi.com/en/innovation/e-mo ... namic.html

[Mito Man]

The 4x4 “coupes” whilst being much smaller in the back are more teardrop shaped so should be more aerodynamic.

Back to the E-Tron example - 0.27 for chunky, 0.26 for sportscrack.

Is there a Cd/range difference on your E-Tron with camera stalks vs the one with mirrors?

[nuttinnew]

The 4x4 “coupes” whilst being much smaller in the back are more teardrop shaped so should be more aerodynamic.

Back to the E-Tron example - 0.27 for chunky, 0.26 for sportscrack.

Is there a Cd/range difference on your E-Tron with camera stalks vs the one with mirrors?

With the standard exterior mirrors the Audi e-tron reaches a drag coefficient of 0.28, with the optional virtual exterior mirrors even 0.27 - a top rating in the SUV Segment.

[JonMad]

I like in it a 'forget the SUV tag, think of it as a Lotus family car' kind of way. But it needs to shrink by 15% in all external dimensions.

[Jimmy Choo]

This will cost Lotus just as much to develop as any sports car and sell in just as small quantities.

Isn't it just a Polestar 2 platform? It should be.

Johnny Smith's video mentions that it's all lotus and is the first product to be built in the new Geely factory in China. There's no mention of if it will stay an entirely Lotus platform, though.

Either way, it's going to be a bastard to keep clean with all those ducts going in and out of the wheel arches.

[Ascender]

I like in it a 'forget the SUV tag, think of it as a Lotus family car' kind of way. But it needs to shrink by 15% in all external dimensions.

Maybe its because I've been driving smaller cars again this last 18 months or so, but its pretty depressing to see just how many SUVs and "jacked-up" cars there are out there now. Some of the smaller cars which are now mini-SUVs just look ridiculous, but its clearly what everybody wants. I kind of thought the drive to move away from fossil fuels might also see manufacturers trying to make cars smaller again to help with fuel efficiency and eke out longer ranges from batteries, but everything just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

[V8Granite]

Dave - SUVs are already pointless things.

Don’t make me start the “estates aren’t built for big dogs and they take up less space” rant again

Dave!

Do it!

The W164 is 4781mm long and 2134mm wide at the mirror.

The w211 estate is 4888 long and 2063mm wide at the mirror.

Boot height is 939mm in the ML and 850mm in the E class.

Boot volume is 795 litres with the seats up in the ML and 640 litres in the E class.

ML footprint is 10,202,654 mm squared compared to 10,083,944mm squared for the E class.

Giving a useable boot capacity of 0.000077920596266 litres per square mm for the MLcompared to the paltry 0.000063467230679 litres per square mm for the E.

Numbers I think we can all agree are easy to visualise.

In conclusion, the dogs heads hit the roof in the E but not the ML.

Dave!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Don’t make me start the “estates aren’t built for big dogs and they take up less space” rant again

Dave!

Do it!

The W164 is 4781mm long and 2134mm wide at the mirror.

The w211 estate is 4888 long and 2063mm wide at the mirror.

Boot height is 939mm in the ML and 850mm in the E class.

Boot volume is 795 litres with the seats up in the ML and 640 litres in the E class.

ML footprint is 10,202,654 mm squared compared to 10,083,944mm squared for the E class.

Giving a useable boot capacity of 0.000077920596266 litres per square mm for the MLcompared to the paltry 0.000063467230679 litres per square mm for the E.

Numbers I think we can all agree are easy to visualise.

In conclusion, the dogs heads hit the roof in the E but not the ML.

Dave!

Have you tried telling the dog to lie down?

You are the 0.1% then Dave for whom an SUV is not pointless But you've also got a Landie...

That doesn't meant they should be so ubiquitous when a more efficient estate would suit the majority. Instead I'd suggest that the majority buy them for a perceived sense of image, as opposed to the fact they truly believe they're the most practical option, or because they need to fit Digby in the boot.

[V8Granite]

Do it!

The W164 is 4781mm long and 2134mm wide at the mirror.

The w211 estate is 4888 long and 2063mm wide at the mirror.

Boot height is 939mm in the ML and 850mm in the E class.

Boot volume is 795 litres with the seats up in the ML and 640 litres in the E class.

ML footprint is 10,202,654 mm squared compared to 10,083,944mm squared for the E class.

Giving a useable boot capacity of 0.000077920596266 litres per square mm for the MLcompared to the paltry 0.000063467230679 litres per square mm for the E.

Numbers I think we can all agree are easy to visualise.

In conclusion, the dogs heads hit the roof in the E but not the ML.

Dave!

Have you tried telling the dog to lie down?

You are the 0.1% then Dave for whom an SUV is not pointless But you've also got a Landie...

That doesn't meant they should be so ubiquitous when a more efficient estate would suit the majority. Instead I'd suggest that the majority buy them for a perceived sense of image, as opposed to the fact they truly believe they're the most practical option, or because they need to fit Digby in the boot.

If the W211 had a decent towing weight I’d have the 211 in 500 form to be honest, also telling a Rottweiler to lie down when they are protecting us from a too close motorcyclist is like telling them to chew their food .

The image I hate, it’s why finding a non bling one without side steps and 21s was such a chore.

Saying all that though, I really fancy a GL or an Ineos next.

We probably do 2500 miles a year when the space is really needed, the other 10,000 it’s just moving extra weight about.

Dave!