Race to the first i4

[Technicalthunk]

April 2022 order, April 2023 confirmation, didn’t get an email update yet.

 

[fellman3]

April 2022 order, April 2023 confirmation, didn’t get an email update yet.

Latest exchange with Lotus Customer Care this morning confirmed that letter received this week is meaningless so no January 2024 build date.
Is really beyond Lotus to maintain two lists of i4 customers, one for the FE and one for the Base model?!

 

[Cutting42]

Wow people who ordered on the 8th of July 2 years ago still haven't got there car?.
Will you have to pay the new price?

Well this is the i4 thread and Lotus have not shipped any customer i4's to the UK yet. The first were to China and are en route and will be the first to get into customers hands I believe later this month.

The i4 going to Goodwood for next weekend will be the first public showing of an i4 so we are all on tenterhooks to see the first pics and sound files.

Price, yup, it sucks, he lied, we all have a choice.

 

[Andy H]

The i4 going to Goodwood

Great, I missed that news on the Goodwood thread. Finally people will get to see and hear an I4 in the wild. Let's hope it makes it up the hill! I wonder how long it will be before they have some available for reviewers?

 

[Cutting42]

I am still waiting for any contact from Lotus. It was confirmed early August that my car was scheduled to be made this month but now updates. I am early but the earliest afaik anyone out there had a payment request or proposed delivery date set yet for an i4?

 

[Tokion]

Me too - 8th July 2021 (Goodwood Thursday) - 2nd deposit and config locked for the first time 12th April 2022 - reconfirmed yesterday and all good now in “My Lotus” …..

Very similar dates as mine regarding everything. The latest information from my (Japan) distributor is that the car will be manufactured in November 2023, and delivered to me in late February or March 2024. This is very close to the level of delays I am able to take, so I am “praying” there won’t be further delays.

 

[simonb]

the whole lack of contact / email not being responded to / lack of care led me to get my pre reveal deposit back (and got it back before the mediocre i4 reviews). If this is the same way that they will be handling recalls and faults it sounds like a complete shitshow. Seems a very silly time to cut dealers out the loop, as the centralised replacement "service" is not up to the job

 

[Cutting42]

I spoke to Lotus CS today enquiring about the claimed production of my i4 in August. Bit of a surprise but it didn’t happen. Handover now scheduled for October with a Sept build. Apparently no i4’s were built in August due to a possible tooling change although he was not very specific about this. My car is one of the first scheduled and I should be getting the checkout process starting early sept.

 

[Andy H]

I guess this is pushing back the timing for demo cars too then. Bell and Colville had said September previously. I just spoke to them and they said they are now expecting a demo in November. Interestingly, the lady also said that it will not be mandated to confirm the order before having the opportunity to drive the demo. However, this wouldn't happen automatically; you would need to speak to Lotus CS to request a delay to your delivery date if that situation arises.

 

[Porter]

I spoke to Lotus CS today enquiring about the claimed production of my i4 in August. Bit of a surprise but it didn’t happen. Handover now scheduled for October with a Sept build. Apparently no i4’s were built in August due to a possible tooling change although he was not very specific about this. My car is one of the first scheduled and I should be getting the checkout process starting early sept.

I guess this is pushing back the timing for demo cars too then. Bell and Colville had said September previously. I just spoke to them and they said they are now expecting a demo in November. Interestingly, the lady also said that it will not be mandated to confirm the order before having the opportunity to drive the demo. However, this wouldn't happen automatically; you would need to speak to Lotus CS to request a delay to your delivery date if that situation arises.

Fascinating, you're both describing build schedules that overlap entirely with the period that Lotus has repeatedly assured its US dealers will be when the full tilt production of the FE V6 for the US market should be happening.

So weird... it's almost like they tell untruths, and know it!

 

[eriegz]

Fascinating, you're both describing build schedules that overlap entirely with the period that Lotus has repeatedly assured its US dealers will be when the full tilt production of the FE V6 for the US market should be happening.

So weird... it's almost like they tell untruths, and know it!

Maybe Lotus will be building North American V6 FEs and UK i4s side-by-side?

I wonder if the times where they switch the entire factory floor over to a single country market (e.g. China), the cars are so different that it would be too difficult to build them side-by-side with other markets?

 

[PsymonR]

I spoke to Lotus CS today enquiring about the claimed production of my i4 in August. Bit of a surprise but it didn’t happen. Handover now scheduled for October with a Sept build. Apparently no i4’s were built in August due to a possible tooling change although he was not very specific about this. My car is one of the first scheduled and I should be getting the checkout process starting early sept.

I've been in touch with lotus CS today to check in on my expected build window, which was previously last updated to be a Q1 2024 build. The update I was given was a similar window to yours, September build with October handover (with checkout in next few weeks), which certainly was a surprise! Gets me wondering though...

• Have they had a large number of I4 cancellations, bumping me up the waiting list?
• Are they more confident in production quantities than they were when I got my previous estimate?
• Did the CS agent simply get things wrong with the updated timescale?

 

[Cutting42]

Maybe Lotus will be building North American V6 FEs and UK i4s side-by-side?

I wonder if the times where they switch the entire factory floor over to a single country market (e.g. China), the cars are so different that it would be too difficult to build them side-by-side with other markets?

I was led to believe on my tour last year that the line is flexible enough to cope with all variations of the Emira on the line at the same time.

 

[TomE]

I was led to believe on my tour last year that the line is flexible enough to cope with all variations of the Emira on the line at the same time.

This is correct. They can build 20 different variants in a day if they want to, each car down the line to a different spec to the one before. There are some small benefits to batching, for example a run of LHD i4s. But it’s not a constraint.

 

[mike 207]

I'm waiting on a FE I4 (2.22 deposit). Last email from Lotus ( around 6 months ago) informed me Q2/Q3 2024 delivery .I spoke to CS Friday (1.9.23) to chase build/delivery & they informed me Oct 2023 build Nov 2023 handover. I just don't believe this given that no UK dealers currently have any I4 demonstrators & Q3 2023 seems to be the earliest date these demos are arriving. No idea what could have happened to accelerate builds by 9-12 months as cancellations and/or increased production levels cannot be that high ? I'm really not sure where CS are getting their revised forecast dates from and I hope my scepticism is wrong. If cars are being delivered Oct/Nov 2023 then a lot of us will have the dilemma of deciding whether to accept a car which we have not had chance to drive although a previous post suggested Lotus may allow us to delay acceptance until after a test drive. Personally I think there is not a chance I will get my car in Nov 2023 but here's hoping I'm proved wrong by Lotus. This Lotus journey is not easy is it ??

 

[ADC]

cancellations .... cannot be that high ?

Yes. Yes, they can.

 

[Lazaruos]

I'm waiting on a FE I4 (2.22 deposit). Last email from Lotus ( around 6 months ago) informed me Q2/Q3 2024 delivery .I spoke to CS Friday (1.9.23) to chase build/delivery & they informed me Oct 2023 build Nov 2023 handover. I just don't believe this given that no UK dealers currently have any I4 demonstrators & Q3 2023 seems to be the earliest date these demos are arriving. No idea what could have happened to accelerate builds by 9-12 months as cancellations and/or increased production levels cannot be that high ? I'm really not sure where CS are getting their revised forecast dates from and I hope my scepticism is wrong. If cars are being delivered Oct/Nov 2023 then a lot of us will have the dilemma of deciding whether to accept a car which we have not had chance to drive although a previous post suggested Lotus may allow us to delay acceptance until after a test drive. Personally I think there is not a chance I will get my car in Nov 2023 but here's hoping I'm proved wrong by Lotus. This Lotus journey is not easy is it ??

actually that's exactly what my dealer told me the production will be on oct 2023 and the delivery will be on the end of Nov/early Dec 2023 and that's a middle east dealer i wonder how the UK behind on the delivery date there is something wrong or I'm getting the best case scenario

 

[0pirates0]

Till today almost a dozen of i4s have been delivered in China as promised. However, ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL of their engine lights have showed up after driving 50kms or more. Local dealer said there were sensors' problem which could not explain the frustration i4 owners are facing at the moment. Kinda losing confidence in this model. Tbh, I would rather get my emira delivered later comparing with getting a vehicle only works one day a week.
In the following video, the owner got his delivered in late August and his engine light went on almost every single day. I have to say I will think twice before taking the car home.

 

[PsymonR]

I've been in touch with lotus CS today to check in on my expected build window, which was previously last updated to be a Q1 2024 build. The update I was given was a similar window to yours, September build with October handover (with checkout in next few weeks), which certainly was a surprise! Gets me wondering though...

• Have they had a large number of I4 cancellations, bumping me up the waiting list?
• Are they more confident in production quantities than they were when I got my previous estimate?
• Did the CS agent simply get things wrong with the updated timescale?

I've now had an Emira Order Update email from Lotus, saying they are set to start production of my car in October, which would be a slight slip from what the CS agent told me, but still ahead of the original timescale I was given.

 

[Martylemoo]

Just been told October, last email said August.
Ah well, I won’t be home until Dec 27th so I guess it’s a new year gift for me.