Lotus Cars Malaysia, the distributor for the Lotus brand on our shores, just launched the Lotus Eletre all-electric hyper SUV in Malaysia. Touted as the “world’s fastest dual-motor pure electric SUV,” the Eletre offers up to a whopping 905hp – fully deserving of the hyper SUV moniker. Malaysia is also the first market outside of China to get the Eletre.

All three variants of the Eletre are offered in Malaysia. The standard Eletre is priced at RM578,000, while the Eletre S goes for RM648,000. As for the range-topping Eletre R, it costs a cool RM798,000. These prices are on-the-road without insurance, and it comes with a five-year or 150,000km warranty; eight-year or 200,000km warranty for the battery.

The most exciting model is certainly the Eletre R. It’s the only variant to feature a dual-speed system that outputs 905hp and 985Nm of torque, allowing it to go from 0-100kmph in only 2.95 seconds with a top speed of 265kmph. It also has a max range of 490km (WLTP).

As for the Eletre S and the standard Eletre, both feature the same single-speed system that delivers 603hp and 710Nm of torque. They can do the century sprint in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 258kmph, so while these two models are not as quick as the Eletre R, they do offer a higher driving range of up to 600km; also on the WLTP cycle.

All variants of the Eletre feature a 112kWh battery and a 350kW charger, which enables 10-80% charge in only 20 minutes. It can accept 22kW AC charging as well.

What differentiates the three variants of the Eletre are mostly on the exterior. The base model doesn’t get auto dimming side mirrors, rear privacy glass, or soft-closing doors of the Eletre S and R (though the R gets the Carbon Pack as standard). All variants of the SUV also rides on 22-inch alloy wheels, though the Eletre R gets Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres; regular Pirelli P Zero for the base and S models.

Marketed as a lifestyle SUV, the Eletre comes with a five-seat layout as standard, so it has a boot capacity of 688L or 1,532L with the rear seats folded. There’s also an option for a four-seat configuration as part of the optional Executive Seat Pack, which is shown here.

Naturally, the Eletre has sophisticated advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as well. These include adaptive cruise control, driver monitoring system, rear collision warning, lane keep assist, traffic sign information, and Lotus Intelligent Dynamic Chassis Control. It also has a deployable LIDAR system – said to be a world’s first – that supports end-to-end autonomous driving technology. It is future-proofed for future development via OTA software updates too.

Despite the fact that the Lotus Eletre has only been launched in Malaysia today, it has already collected over 140 bookings. Only 200 units are set to be available here for the whole of 2023, so if you’re keen to get this hyper SUV, you may want to place a booking as soon as you can. More details on the Eletre can be found on Lotus’ official website.