USA/Canada Delivery Thread

[morphious]

I wanted to ask everyone's opinion here?
I have an allocation of a FE1 Emira but there is a dealer markup but it's in LA and I live in Texas (I'll have to pay for shipping here). But the delivery is scheduled for Nov/Dec 2023. It's seneca blue ext with ice grey leather interior. It's not bad but not my first choice (Verdant green, tan interior)
However, I found out Dallas may have allocations and they do not charge ADM (yet to confirm until tomorrow). My concern is how reliable are these allocations? Is it likely I will get my car even if it means waiting a few more months, or can/will Lotus pull allocations away? Also concerned about my place in line if there is a large waitlist and I'm near the bottom.

Is it worth the ADM and shipping cost from LA or should I be patient, save some money and hope things work out in Dallas?

I don't think anyone will be able to answer this for you. I too have my 1.0 on order with Galpin and have ADM. I am OK with it because I have been looking for a car like this since I sold my 91' MR2. I have owned many since, but none ever gave me the feeling like this one has. I will be having mine completely wrapped and the original color will not be visible, so does it matter? To me yes, I am getting the exact car I chose and want and it will be the last car in this category I will buy. I have been OK and patient with all the delays while trying to avoid the noise and that I am paying ADM because I really wanted an FE, and everything about this car is my choice. Good luck on your decision.

 

[EZcheezy]

I wanted to ask everyone's opinion here?
I have an allocation of a FE1 Emira but there is a dealer markup but it's in LA and I live in Texas (I'll have to pay for shipping here). But the delivery is scheduled for Nov/Dec 2023. It's seneca blue ext with ice grey leather interior. It's not bad but not my first choice (Verdant green, tan interior)
However, I found out Dallas may have allocations and they do not charge ADM (yet to confirm until tomorrow). My concern is how reliable are these allocations? Is it likely I will get my car even if it means waiting a few more months, or can/will Lotus pull allocations away? Also concerned about my place in line if there is a large waitlist and I'm near the bottom.

Is it worth the ADM and shipping cost from LA or should I be patient, save some money and hope things work out in Dallas?

i just bought one from Dallas TX 1-2 weeks ago and they told me 14 - 18 month wait. 1st guy i talked to said 14 months

 

[Barfly]

Did they also add ADM? I don't mind it but I would rather get someone I want

Same deal exactly.

 

[dgrace]

If you don't mind ADM there will almost certainly be cars up for sale as soon as FE1.0 holders take delivery. A lot can happen in 3 years and I'm sure some folks just want their money back at this point but are locked in until the keys are handed over.

 

[TomE]

Just posted by Todd Rosenthal from Lotus of Naples on one of the Facebook groups:

I was just at Goodwood Festival of Speed and was able to drive the Electre and the i4 Emira up/down the Goodwood hill as a passenger. I’m with Lotus of Naples and to answer questions about US deliveries and production:

Production for US cars is set to start September of this year (1 year late) for the V6 and the i4 will start January of 2024. Lotus does not have CARB approval yet so the cars will be built and shipped to the US but will stay at port until they can legally sell them. The projected date for release is in December. What that means is dealers will end up getting the cars built in September, October, and part of November all at once. We expect to deliver cars in December or worst case January. I4’s should be delivered in March. We will have about 50-60 of our cars delivered at once. (We were the largest dealer in 2020 & 2021 so we have a significant allocation). We have had a fair number of cancellations however we have had more new deposits Vs cancellations. We hope to have all our depositors cars built within 10 months of production. We are getting a less i4 allocations than we did 6 cal so I suspect the i4’s will take a little while for production to get going.

Everyone has speculation. We’ve only delivered information that we have received from Lotus. All the US dealers now have allocations from September through April. We hope to receive exact build dates so we can start letting our order bank know soon. My suggestion is contact your local dealer in a couple weeks for the latest update.

I hope that helps everyone with some clarity. The Electre was amazing! The electronics, fit and finish, and ride quality surpasses even a Lamborghini Urus in my opionion. The i4 has amazing sounds when shifting through the gears. Are we happy about the delay? No but it’s worth the wait!

 

[Maurice R]

Just posted by Todd Rosenthal from Lotus of Naples on one of the Facebook groups:

I was just at Goodwood Festival of Speed and was able to drive the Electre and the i4 Emira up/down the Goodwood hill as a passenger. I’m with Lotus of Naples and to answer questions about US deliveries and production:

Production for US cars is set to start September of this year (1 year late) for the V6 and the i4 will start January of 2024. Lotus does not have CARB approval yet so the cars will be built and shipped to the US but will stay at port until they can legally sell them. The projected date for release is in December. What that means is dealers will end up getting the cars built in September, October, and part of November all at once. We expect to deliver cars in December or worst case January. I4’s should be delivered in March. We will have about 50-60 of our cars delivered at once. (We were the largest dealer in 2020 & 2021 so we have a significant allocation). We have had a fair number of cancellations however we have had more new deposits Vs cancellations. We hope to have all our depositors cars built within 10 months of production. We are getting a less i4 allocations than we did 6 cal so I suspect the i4’s will take a little while for production to get going.

Everyone has speculation. We’ve only delivered information that we have received from Lotus. All the US dealers now have allocations from September through April. We hope to receive exact build dates so we can start letting our order bank know soon. My suggestion is contact your local dealer in a couple weeks for the latest update.

I hope that helps everyone with some clarity. The Electre was amazing! The electronics, fit and finish, and ride quality surpasses even a Lamborghini Urus in my opionion. The i4 has amazing sounds when shifting through the gears. Are we happy about the delay? No but it’s worth the wait!

Tom thank you for sharing this information.

 

[scarzie]

Just posted by Todd Rosenthal from Lotus of Naples on one of the Facebook groups:

I was just at Goodwood Festival of Speed and was able to drive the Electre and the i4 Emira up/down the Goodwood hill as a passenger. I’m with Lotus of Naples and to answer questions about US deliveries and production:

Production for US cars is set to start September of this year (1 year late) for the V6 and the i4 will start January of 2024. Lotus does not have CARB approval yet so the cars will be built and shipped to the US but will stay at port until they can legally sell them. The projected date for release is in December. What that means is dealers will end up getting the cars built in September, October, and part of November all at once. We expect to deliver cars in December or worst case January. I4’s should be delivered in March. We will have about 50-60 of our cars delivered at once. (We were the largest dealer in 2020 & 2021 so we have a significant allocation). We have had a fair number of cancellations however we have had more new deposits Vs cancellations. We hope to have all our depositors cars built within 10 months of production. We are getting a less i4 allocations than we did 6 cal so I suspect the i4’s will take a little while for production to get going.

Everyone has speculation. We’ve only delivered information that we have received from Lotus. All the US dealers now have allocations from September through April. We hope to receive exact build dates so we can start letting our order bank know soon. My suggestion is contact your local dealer in a couple weeks for the latest update.

I hope that helps everyone with some clarity. The Electre was amazing! The electronics, fit and finish, and ride quality surpasses even a Lamborghini Urus in my opionion. The i4 has amazing sounds when shifting through the gears. Are we happy about the delay? No but it’s worth the wait!

Thanks Tom, I wish they would have sent this out in an email to their deposit holders!

 

[dgrace]

I get a kick out of the fact that the biggest Lotus dealer in the US still misspells Eletre.

 

[Davebeats]

I get a kick out of the fact that the biggest Lotus dealer in the US still misspells Eletre.

He replied back that it was autocorrect on his tablet and not intentional

 

[EspritGuy]

He replied back that it was autocorrect on his tablet and not intentional

Auto-incorrect

 

[Hell4Leather]

i just bought one from Dallas TX 1-2 weeks ago and they told me 14 - 18 month wait. 1st guy i talked to said 14 months

Ha! I put in an order over a year ago and they said 18 months!!! I didn’t even make the cut for FE2

 

[981KMAN]

Ha! I put in an order over a year ago and they said 18 months!!! I didn’t even make the cut for FE2

I'm in a similar boat, yet trying to look at the bright side - that Lotus will have more time working out their quality issues, and maybe will offer more options like "Lane Change - Blind Spot Assist", or upgraded seats with a little more bolstering, etc.....

 

[trackday14]

My dealer just texted me that I’m officially in the first group of builds for First Editions. Over 2 years since my initial deposit…16 months since my order was submitted.

 

[kin]

I got the call, FE v2.0, after 21 months (Oct 2021 deposit), all goes well, I'll get one! They mentioned July-September 2024 delivery dates

 

[FlyNavy01]

Emailed my dealer rep at 8pm tonight just out of curiosity. Amazingly he responded within an hour saying they've received 33 4 cylinder allocations and 32 additional V6's (on top of their original 45) and that I would be part of these allocations. Making the "FE 2.0" cut is the first piece of positive news for me since placing my $5k deposit on 01 DEC 2021. He also mentioned I would very likely get my car sooner if I opted for an I4 DCT (I respectfully declined).

Figured others might be interested in the data points. Despite the stream of disappointing news this year, this helped renew my excitement more than I expected!

 

[Barfly]

I got the call, FE v2.0, after 21 months (Oct 2021 deposit), all goes well, I'll get one! They mentioned July-September 2024 delivery dates

Do you think that July-September delivery is based on any actual communication from Lotus or just a WAG?

 

[Porter]

Do you think that July-September delivery is based on any actual communication from Lotus or just a WAG?

Pretty sure everything is a WAG, even official statements from Lotus.

 

[kin]

Do you think that July-September delivery is based on any actual communication from Lotus or just a WAG?

It seems legit - UK production seems to be flowing smoothly, and there were very specific dates given to me:

September-December 2023: Shipment of cars (dependent on emissions pass, this happened with Evoras as well)
December 2023-Jan? Feb? 2024: Deliveries once emissions pass
January -March 2024: i4 production
March -June 2024: i4 deliveries
March - June 2024: FE 2.0 production begins (I forgot how the overlap happens specifically)
July - September 2024: Deliveries of 2.0

Of course, my dealer did say "In a year, you might get a Lotus" - at this point, it might be naive to believe their timelines, but those are the timeframes given.

 

[Tokion]

What does CARB approval for a brand new car model entail?

It is all outlined below (in the link). It should be noticed that even if this started as a California initiative; it is getting more common that new car models for sale in all of the USA seek this approval.

An entire group of European car manufacturers have agreed to make CARB approval mandatory for all new models certified for sale in the USA. LOTUS CARS is not a member of this group, but it seems that it is getting more common for all (non-US) car manufacturers to seek this approval. The need it for Californian sales anyway, so it is useful for all US marketing throughout the USA.

New Vehicle and Engine Certification | California Air Resources Board

ww2.arb.ca.gov

 

[Maurice R]

So possibly no one is going to get an Emira in NA based on CARB due to CA requirements. So happy I don’t live in CA.