A true super saloon in look, feel and power, the Lotus Emeya is an EV to savour

You can look at the Lotus Emeya in a couple of different ways. On the one hand, it’s entirely progressive, an example of a car company getting out of its comfort zone and attempting to do something different in a new sector, with new owners, new technology, and new design and engineering expertise. On the other hand, it’s rather retrograde and old-fashioned, a step back to an established era and hierarchy of prestige and preconceptions, where bigger was better, faster was finer and power equalled glory.

An uncharitable reading of the car is that the Emeya has failed at both – regardless of the angle you take, this big four-door sports saloon is neither innovation nor luxurious, especially when it’s considered in the face of the opposition. And yet, from the driver’s seat it’s a rather special place to be. It’s no slouch as a place for passengers either. So what is the real meaning of Lotus’s heavy lean into electrification?

You’d have to have been living under a rock for the past few years not to notice that Lotus isn’t doing especially well. Bought by Geely in 2017, saving from it another point of peril, the company received hefty chunks of Chinese investment as well as global interest in a whole new suite of products. One of these was the Emeya, the second of a clutch of new generation EVs that started with the massive Eletre SUV.

Both cars share a visual language, and a rather appealing one at that. As an independent and an innovator, with close ties to motorsport, the Lotus of old is spliced with technical innovation plus avant-garde visual thinking, creating a genuinely different and appealing machine. There are also showstopping elements, like the segmented electrically dimming roof panel, with its collection of interlocking triangular elements that can be arranged in myriad ways.

However, Lotus, like so many other cars in the Geely stable (Polestar, Volvo and Smart, we’re looking at you) has over-committed to the touch screen, shunting reams of functionality into the realm of swiping, menus and icons. The interface design is impressive, with smooth and swift graphics, and in truth the various functions do eventually get burned into your muscle memory.

However, there’s a learning curve. The Eletre’s way of doing things is definitely different and not everyone will have the patience to give up decades of ergonomic familiarity. To move the wing mirror, for example, it’s a button on the door (two presses for offside mirror), then onto the multifunctional trackpad buttons on the steering wheel. The HVAC system does away with any physical interaction with air vents altogether – strength and direction of air is guided by a swipe across a virtual diagram of the dashboard, with airflow rendered as streams that can be manipulated this way and that. It ought to be intuitive, but it’s really not as easy as moving a stalk on a blower vent.

A recent facelift has divvied up the Emeya (and Eletre) range into more digestible individual models, the 600 and 900 (the numbers referring to their equivalent horsepower). These are then further subdivided into 600, 600 GT, 600 GT SE and 600 Sport SE. The 600 range starts at £84,990 and going all the way up £104,990 for the Sport SE, with the performance remaining the same and layers of optional extras being added in at each tier. The 900 range consists of the 900 Sport and 900 Carbon, the latter starting at £139,990. Tick every available option and you can push the price well over £180,000.

We’re here to tell you that the upper echelons of the range are not really worth this significant bump. There are some great, high-tech options – like the roof – but essentially you’re paying a premium for more carbon fibre, a shorter range and the barnstorming ability to hit 60mph in less than three seconds. Even in the base 600, the instant availability of power makes overtaking and streaking off motorway slip roads into fast-moving traffic a breeze, even in the base model. More importantly, it handles beautifully, with a balance and refinement to the suspension that cloaks the car’s immense 2,550kg weight.

Just like every other EV performance car manufacturer, Lotus has to wrestle with the uncomfortable truth that the longest-range model is usually the sweet spot, with more than enough performance when you need it and less anxiety when you don’t. This explains why flagship EVs have so much in the way of surplus power – anything to justify the price attached to 2- and 3-second sprint times – and why expensive option lists exist to add in a layer of profitability.

Speaking of which, Lotus isn’t doing so great right now. Cuts to the UK workforce, rumours (dismissed by the company) that UK-based production will soon end and a general malaise over the state of the luxury EV market have all contributed to the downturn. The car you see here hasn’t yet gone in sale in the US, a market that would surely lap up a long-limbed, ultra-high-performance saloon. However, it’s politically unfortunate that the car is built in China (the only Lotus built in the UK is the Emira mid-engined sports car).

Waiting in the wings, presumably for an economic upturn, is a new smaller SUV, a design that’s been in the can for several years but has been stymied by the over-optimistic production and revenue numbers originally attached to the Emeya and Eletre. More importantly, there are also super-hybrid versions of the EV pair being readied. These will follow the trend for range-extender powered hybrids that retain EV propulsion but can charge the battery with a small combustion engine. They could bring a welcome boost to Lotus’s desirability amongst the diehard anti-EV holdouts.

In my opinion, the Emeya is more than desirable already, especially in 600 trim. The combination of pace and space and (mostly) successful design and ergonomics both inside and out more than make up for the car’s size and weight. It’s bold and different and way more practical than it looks, a pioneering super saloon that makes a great alternative to the ubiquitous Porsche Taycan. Here’s hoping the model’s ongoing evolution adds to that charm.

Lotus Emeya 600, from £84,990, LotusCars.com, @LotusCars