Lotus Emira Track Experience

[Leonard]

Considering that their entire future is committed to going electric, the Emira is almost a distraction at this point. I don't think they expected to be spending this much time and resources on it. Everything Geely is focused on is electric, so I would expect everything else including comms, advertising, etc. to be focused on that too. We'll see if everything some have wanted starts to appear for the electric cars. Obviously the sales success of the Emira hasn't needed it, even though it would have been fun to have it.

They are supposed to be building a brand.
Obviously it isn't aimed at #forthedrivers and hence I doubt anything will change with the EV models either.
Seems like they are creating a luxury commodity only

 

[Eagle7]

They are supposed to be building a brand.
Obviously it isn't aimed at #forthedrivers and hence I doubt anything will change with the EV models either.
Seems like they are creating a luxury commodity only

They are, just maybe not the brand that some people want. We'll have to wait and see what the Type 135 is like to see how they translate electric power into "for the drivers". I'm sure they'll achieve it, but it's going to be different from what we've known. Not everyone is going to like that. Hopefully enough do to keep them in business.

I agree though that they're moving towards a luxury brand, which is going to restrict their market penetration. Hopefully the success of the Emira is giving them an insight into how important it is to keep something attractive under the $100k price point.

 

[TomE]

Considering that their entire future is committed to going electric, the Emira is almost a distraction at this point. I don't think they expected to be spending this much time and resources on it. Everything Geely is focused on is electric, so I would expect everything else including comms, advertising, etc. to be focused on that too. We'll see if everything some have wanted starts to appear for the electric cars. Obviously the sales success of the Emira hasn't needed it, even though it would have been fun to have it.

Seems odd to call it almost a distraction. It is the key second step of their Vision80 strategy (after Evija) and the bridge between the Lotus heritage models with ICE through to the all-electric future. The Emira needs to appeal to a wider audience and be more visible globally, to help build the Lotus brand and pull people towards the EVs. It has done that in lots of ways, judging by the size of the order book. But not getting the Emira customer experience in place in parallel with developing and launching the car feels like a serious mis-step. You may be right and they don't see it as important now. They keep saying they're working on improving it.

If Lotus and Geely really were focused on the electric future, then you'd expect their comms and customer care to be different for Eletre. The Eletre launch was certainly a bigger spectacle than the Emira launch, and advertising for Eletre has been more frequent and more varied.

But the Eletre customer experience is almost the same as for Emira and deposit holders are similarly bemused or frustrated. Limited info, updates promised but not provided, pricing not available, customer care unable to answer questions. I dropped out of the queue, as it looked like it was going to be a re-run of Emira. I know others who have cancelled deposits. And the order book is much smaller.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Seems odd to call it almost a distraction. It is the key second step of their Vision80 strategy (after Evija) and the bridge between the Lotus heritage models with ICE through to the all-electric future. The Emira needs to appeal to a wider audience and be more visible globally, to help build the Lotus brand and pull people towards the EVs. It has done that in lots of ways, judging by the size of the order book. But not getting the Emira customer experience in place in parallel with developing and launching the car feels like a serious mis-step. You may be right and they don't see it as important now. They keep saying they're working on improving it.

If Lotus and Geely really were focused on the electric future, then you'd expect their comms and customer care to be different for Eletre. The Eletre launch was certainly a bigger spectacle than the Emira launch, and advertising for Eletre has been more frequent and more varied.

But the Eletre customer experience is almost the same as for Emira and deposit holders are similarly bemused or frustrated. Limited info, updates promised but not provided, pricing not available, customer care unable to answer questions. I dropped out of the queue, as it looked like it was going to be a re-run of Emira. I know others who have cancelled deposits. And the order book is much smaller.

Makes me wonder if there are Lotus forums in China? And maybe we’re not seeing any enthusiasm or comms because it’s not English language? Are there parallel Lotus worlds? I tend to think Eletre will have more of a China focus, with the rest of the world secondary.

 

[Eagle7]

Seems odd to call it almost a distraction. It is the key second step of their Vision80 strategy (after Evija) and the bridge between the Lotus heritage models with ICE through to the all-electric future. The Emira needs to appeal to a wider audience and be more visible globally, to help build the Lotus brand and pull people towards the EVs. It has done that in lots of ways, judging by the size of the order book. But not getting the Emira customer experience in place in parallel with developing and launching the car feels like a serious mis-step. You may be right and they don't see it as important now. They keep saying they're working on improving it.

If Lotus and Geely really were focused on the electric future, then you'd expect their comms and customer care to be different for Eletre. The Eletre launch was certainly a bigger spectacle than the Emira launch, and advertising for Eletre has been more frequent and more varied.

But the Eletre customer experience is almost the same as for Emira and deposit holders are similarly bemused or frustrated. Limited info, updates promised but not provided, pricing not available, customer care unable to answer questions. I dropped out of the queue, as it looked like it was going to be a re-run of Emira. I know others who have cancelled deposits. And the order book is much smaller.

I think it's somewhat of a distraction due to the unexpected tsunami of success of the Emira. It's pulling a lot of resources at a time when they were probably expecting to be going gung ho on the electric side of things. It's a good problem to have, but with the clock running out on the ICE era, I would expect their attention internally is on the electric cars.

Their priorities seem to be production more than anything else right now, and whether you or others think that's good or not, they appear to have chosen to 'do' rather than 'talk'. None of them are media people; they're all engineering, design and production people. They seem to think producing and delivering cars is more important than anything else right now, and business-wise, that's probably true.

The order book for the Eletre I think is more a reflection of the difference between a stunning design like the Emira, and a somewhat okay design like the Eletre. The Eletre isn't ugly, but it doesn't have the stop-you-in-your-tracks look like the Emira has. For electric vehicles, since they're all pretty much going to have the same performance, the main thing that's going to make a vehicle successful is exterior and interior. It's got to look great, especially if it's an SUV because the competition in that segment is brutal.

 

[Tonyshepp]

I think it's somewhat of a distraction due to the unexpected tsunami of success of the Emira. It's pulling a lot of resources at a time when they were probably expecting to be going gung ho on the electric side of things. It's a good problem to have, but with the clock running out on the ICE era, I would expect their attention internally is on the electric cars.

Their priorities seem to be production more than anything else right now, and whether you or others think that's good or not, they appear to have chosen to 'do' rather than 'talk'. None of them are media people; they're all engineering, design and production people. They seem to think producing and delivering cars is more important than anything else right now, and business-wise, that's probably true.

The order book for the Eletre I think is more a reflection of the difference between a stunning design like the Emira, and a somewhat okay design like the Eletre. The Eletre isn't ugly, but it doesn't have the stop-you-in-your-tracks look like the Emira has. For electric vehicles, since they're all pretty much going to have the same performance, the main thing that's going to make a vehicle successful is exterior and interior. It's got to look great, especially if it's an SUV because the competition in that segment is brutal.

I disagree, not everyone at Lotus is an engineer or in manufacturing.
They do have marketing and communication teams as do most organisations. It's not an admission of failure to circulate some Comms saying still having problems getting parts but here's a video of Bob explaining why the V6 supercharger is such a good engine or why exposing the gear linkage is a cool idea.
I I've by the idea you treat people how you want to be treated. In my line of work in IT dealing with large multinational companies I've learnt communication and clarity and frequency in Comms is everything when things are going wrong or timeframes not met, transparency is all anyone is after.

 

[Eagle7]

I disagree, not everyone at Lotus is an engineer or in manufacturing.
They do have marketing and communication teams as do most organisations. It's not an admission of failure to circulate some Comms saying still having problems getting parts but here's a video of Bob explaining why the V6 supercharger is such a good engine or why exposing the gear linkage is a cool idea.
I I've by the idea you treat people how you want to be treated. In my line of work in IT dealing with large multinational companies I've learnt communication and clarity and frequency in Comms is everything when things are going wrong or timeframes not met, transparency is all anyone is after.

Yes they do have those people, but the people at the top, Matt, Carr, Gavin, etc. and whomever is from Geely don't appear to be media oriented people. Clearly, constant communication isn't one of their priorities right now. They know people on this forum want it otherwise, but they're choosing not to go that route; at least at this time. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now they're not vlogging weekly like some people want. If that's a deal breaker for some people, then get your deposit back and move on. Since the order book is well into 2024 already, it doesn't appear that there are too many people who are bothered by it.

 

[Tonyshepp]

Yes they do have those people, but the people at the top, Matt, Carr, Gavin, etc. and whomever is from Geely don't appear to be media oriented people. Clearly, constant communication isn't one of their priorities right now. They know people on this forum want it otherwise, but they're choosing not to go that route; at least at this time. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now they're not vlogging weekly like some people want. If that's a deal breaker for some people, then get your deposit back and move on. Since the order book is well into 2024 already, it doesn't appear that there are too many people who are bothered by it.

Sorry for raising an opinion that contradicts yours!
I’m saying what I and others on here feel what good looks like from a comms point of view, perhaps you are exactly what Lotus are looking for in a buyer someone who doesn’t care that there buying experience could be improved. No one out of Lotus knows what the forward order book looks like but seeing that there are parts problems the orders that they do have will probably go into 2030…

Perhaps agree to disagree and leave the thread as it is, ie track days

 

[Eagle7]

Sorry for raising an opinion that contradicts yours!
I’m saying what I and others on here feel what good looks like from a comms point of view, perhaps you are exactly what Lotus are looking for in a buyer someone who doesn’t care that there buying experience could be improved. No one out of Lotus knows what the forward order book looks like but seeing that there are parts problems the orders that they do have will probably go into 2030…

Perhaps agree to disagree and leave the thread as it is, ie track days

Well that's a two-way street; my opinion contradicts yours, but there's no need to apologize for that, that's what happens in a discussion. I know what you and others in here feel about it, and the people at Lotus do too. To say that just because I don't agree with what you want, means I don't care that my buying experience couldn't be improved, places what you want as the gold standard of what everybody should want. People aren't all the same. What I want or might be okay with isn't the gold standard that everybody should want, and what you want or are willing to be okay with isn't either. People are different.

If I were in charge of comms and PR at Lotus, I would have done things differently, but I'm not in charge, and they're not me. Either I'm willing to live with that or I'm not. It would have been nice to have more interaction, and I've given ideas on what I would have done, but I have to decide whether or not I'm okay with what Lotus is doing for the time being in relation to what I'm looking to buy. For me, I understand what's going on in the world and how that's probably affecting them, and I'm okay with the situation at the moment as far as communication. I want them to focus on making a great car; especially mine lol. I know some feel differently, and that's their view of things. I present (presented) my view. There are some who agree with me, and some who agree with you. I wouldn't expect it to be any other way. That's okay. Once people start getting their cars, we'll see if there are any changes at Lotus with regards to customer engagement and interaction. Hopefully there will be, but right now we just have to wait and see.

 

[DPB]

So… does anyone else have any track experiences with the Emira that will get this thread, um, back on track? There were at least 12-15 people at LDA just for the afternoon session this past Friday - and the calendar has been pretty well booked up. Surely someone else has some tidbits they would like to share? I was so boggled just to see the Emira in person and attempt a few novice laps that I could hardly provide an objective report.

 

[NicolasB]

I actually cannot believe it, but my dealer just called me to say that he just got word he will have the gray Amira from LOG41 at his dealership Friday and Saturday for test drives. This is lotus of Western New York near Buffalo. He actually said that I was the first person that he called because he knows I have had ongoing interest and talk to him several times over the last year. That's exciting considering I am maybe number 13 on his list, and he was supposed to get 15 FE's.

I am going to drive it sometime Saturday afternoon, it's a 4-Hour drive to get there unfortunately. He said he was aiming to have 20 minute test drives, possibly longer if it's not a really big crowd. I'm very excited to see the car in person for the first time and to drive it will be a bonus. I was hoping it would be the red car that's making the rounds, instead of the Shadow Gray.

Does anybody recall if this car has sport suspension? Also, was this supposedly the one with the smaller KEF amplifier and is a Europeans spec?

Fingers crossed that I like the car and keep my deposit!

 

[lynchy73]

Lotus Emira Track Experience China

Today I had the opportunity to have some track experience in the Emira and also Evora (GT410 I believe). Cars were all V6 AT. Cars were supposedly on Cup2 with Touring Suspension (seems a bit strange to me but that’s what I was told). The Emira were pre production. The track is pretty tight. More time was spent in the Evora than the Emira as there were only 2 Emiras but like 6 Evora.

Was impressed with the grip and composure. Evora felt a touch sharper to me. The Emira felt a bit more forgiving like it would take a lot to unsettle it, the Evora gave the impression it could step out on you. The Emira AT transmission wasn’t in the right gear at some points which was a bit annoying as the V6 needs revs. The Evora AT was better in this respect (cars were in sport mode and auto mode). Power felt like enough to have fun but not super fast (my daily is a Tesla Model 3 Performance).

Lotus in China did a good job of the day. They seem to be really putting in the effort to get a following. Will post up some pics

 

[lynchy73]

A little clip

 

[emiraspain]

thats my signature on the bonnet bottom left, just below the chinese written one, you're welcome...
is that black... he said....trying to annoy all the DV people.... come on..its basically black!

 

[Mctaff]

thats my signature on the bonnet bottom left, just below the chinese written one, you're welcome...
is that black... he said....trying to annoy all the DV people.... come on..its basically black!

philistine!

 

[TomE]

Interesting info. That’s odd to run Touring and Cup2s. What tyres was the Evora running and do you know if it was a GT410 or GT410 Sport?

 

[emiraspain]

On my track day, the cup tyres were indeed the only way to recognise the difference between sport or touring, so I would not be at all amazed to learn the lotus guys there perhaps had it wrong, but we do see at least one of the vast number of yellow china cars there

 

[lynchy73]

Interesting info. That’s odd to run Touring and Cup2s. What tyres was the Evora running and do you know if it was a GT410 or GT410 Sport?

Yes it seemed a little odd to me but that’s what he said (pretty senior guy in the Lotus Experience). I think they were gt410 not sport. Got a pic (not me).

 

[lynchy73]

Here’s that pic

 

[lynchy73]

Nicely staged