Lotus has just opened orders (but not the UK) for the new plug-in hybrid version of its giant Eletre SUV that it’s calling the Eletre X – which is much better than its name in China, which is the Lotus For Me. 

It might be a PHEV, but it’s got a humongous battery and a range that would shame a lot of fully electric cars – the Eletre X gets a 70kWh pack for a range of 217 miles WLTP. 

Not only that, but you can recharge the battery from 20–80% on a 350kW charger in just nine minutes thanks to the car’s 900V electrical systems. 

​Lotus reckons that with a full tank of petrol and a charge up battery the Eletre X will get 746 miles, which for reference is quite a long way. 

The Eletre was originally launched as an electric SUV back in 2022 with a 108kWh battery and a 373-mile range, but sales weren’t quite as perky as the company might have hope and it has re-engineered the car to take a plug-in hybrid powertrain. 

The petrol power comes courtesy of a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, which Lotus describes as an “intelligent onboard power generation system”. 

The petrol engine can power the wheels directly to help the e-motor out, but it’s mostly there to act as a power generator to charge the battery back up. A 52-litre petrol tank helps with the intelligent onboard power generation. 

Total power output is an eye-watering 952hp on the higher powered Eletre X H1000 version of the car – that makes for 0–62mph in 3.9 seconds. 

The H550 is a 550hp version of the X that lollops to 62mph in a glacial 4.9 seconds – really, you might as well walk. Top speed on that car is 130mph, while the H1000 maxes out at 143mph. 

The Eletre X is available to order in mainland Europe now, with deliveries expected to start before the end of the year. There are two versions of the car available – the 550hp version of the car will start from €96,990 (£83,700) and the 952hp version from €119,990 (£103,600). 

The right-hand-drive version of the car hasn’t quite passed the homologation process to go on sale yet (wait, isn’t Lotus a British carmaker?), but the company says that deliveries of PHEVs in the UK will start in the summer of 2027. 

The Lotus Eletre X interior is very similar to the one in the EV version, but you can sit in it for much longer