2025 Lotus Emeya: First impression

For the longest time, Lotus Cars has focused solely on producing lightweight and mission-specific racers for the track. This included iconic models like the Elise and Exige sports cars. However, with its vision of becoming an all-electric automotive brand by 2028, Lotus began stocking its portfolio with EVs.

Three of Lotus’ four cars are already high-performance EVs – the all-new Emeya joined this growing list in September 2023. Unlike the Eletre electric SUV, the 2025 Lotus Emeya is a stylish four-door grand tourer or GT. Similar to its SUV stablemate, underpinning the Emeya is the Geely Electric Premium Architecture (EPA).

The 2025 Lotus Emeya made its UAE debut on September 18, 2024. The VIP-only launch event was held in Dubai, with the sales rights of the pure-electric GT being held exclusively by the Adamas Motor Group.

Exterior

The slippery fastback design of the 2025 Lotus Emeya means it has a drag coefficient of just 0.21 Cd. At the same time, it is difficult to ignore the Emeya’s chunky and muscular physique – albeit one with noticeable visual mass. This being a four-door GT, however, automatically implies a degree of leeway when it comes to the physical footprint.

Some of the Emeya’s more suave styling cues include its twin LED daytime running lights, along with the discreetly placed adaptive headlights. Interestingly, the front bumper of the Emeya appears to be a sleeker but compacted version of the Eletre’s unit. The aerodynamic trickery of this design involves carefully carved carbon-fibre bumpers with air vents plus an active front grille.

They also take into account the Emeya’s active rear spoiler and active rear diffuser. Helping with the visual identity of this electric GT are its 21-inch wheels with painted brake callipers, curvaceous body panels, flush door handles, and a steeply raked rear window.

One of the more interesting features is the rear-facing cameras housed in carbon fibre trim and integrated into the front doors. As if the active rear wing wasn’t enough, Lotus has also stuck a small carbon-fibre lip spoiler at the rear. This adds to the sense of occasion even when the Emeya is parked.

You will also find a full-width LED light bar at the back with various 3D-design LEDs constituting the rear lights of the Emeya. Added together, the effect of all the aerodynamic features of the Lotus Emeya generates over 150 kg of downforce, without much in the way of drag.

Interior

The 2025 Lotus Emeya is meant to be a four-seat grand tourer, but the base variant comes with seating for five occupants. Its meticulously crafted cabin uses sustainable but high-quality materials. Lotus said that the interior incorporates repurposed fibres that come together to create a brand-new type of luxury material.

Along with this new material, the Emeya’s cabin also gets Alcantara, Nappa leather, lightweight aluminium, and carbon fibre. The design is young and sporty without compromising on the calmness and luxurious feeling of a high-end GT sedan. Shiny and reflective trim are kept to a minimum, with the touchpoints feeling posh.

The seats look sporty and feature unique textures, while their comfort levels are plenty good as well. The high centre tunnel houses multiple storage cubbies, front & rear cupholders, a wireless charger, plus a dedicated touchscreen for the rear occupants to control the HVAC system and the seats.

The cabin should be comfortable enough while offering enough space for four occupants, though headroom could be a challenge for people over 6 feet tall due to the sloping roof. However, the huge panoramic glass roof helps make the cabin feel airier. The doors house metal speakers as part of the unique KEF Uni-Q audio system.

Other special touches in the Emeya’s cabin include the twin LED screens in front of the driver and co-driver, a large 15.6-inch OLED infotainment screen, and the even more massive 55-inch head-up display or HUD. The smart placement of the thin but bright LEDs making up the ambient lighting system comes across uninterrupted even in broad daylight.

As for the main screen, it supports 3D animation and incorporates the Lotus Hyper OS infotainment system. Meanwhile, the centre console houses three rocker switches – one of which is for the drive selector. The Lotus Emeya’s interior is well-made and beautifully crafted, though it isn’t as sporty as the Porsche Taycan.

Engine and performance

The 2025 Lotus Emeya is available in the UAE in three variants: Emeya, Emeya S, and Emeya R. All are equipped with a 102-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and the whole system runs on an 800-volt architecture. The high-performance, twin-layered battery is mounted really low to keep the centre of gravity low.

The base Emeya and mid-spec Emeya S both offer enough power to entertain most buyers without impeding range. If out-and-out speed is your top priority, then the Emeya R is the answer even if the range is compromised.

Lotus claims that the top-spec Emeya R takes just 9 seconds to hit 200 kmph from a standstill. Moreover, its punchier rear motor is fitted with a two-speed transmission – the other variants feature a single-speed transmission. All variants get a single-speed transmission for the front motor.

The Lotus Emeya is one of the few EVs in the world that can handle 600 amps of charge! Even a 5-minute top-up results in a range extension of up to 150 km. Such rapid charging makes the Emeya to be used more frequently than similar high-performance EVs.

Providing strong and consistent braking performance are carbon ceramic Brembo brakes and high-performance tyres. Despite weighing over 2.5 tons, the ride quality is unlikely to be compromised. Lotus has equipped the Emeya with an electronically-controlled air suspension capable of reading the road 1,000 times per second.

The system not only allows the Emeya to ride well by constantly adjusting the suspension, but it also helps keep this GT’s handling characteristics in check. The latter is further aided by rear-wheel steering & active anti-roll bars.

Specifications	2025 Lotus Emeya	2025 Lotus Emeya S	2025 Lotus Emeya R
Powertrain	Two permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors	Two permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors	Two permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors
Power output	603 hp/445 kW	603 hp/445 kW	905 hp/605 kW
Drivetrain	All-wheel drive (AWD)	All-wheel drive (AWD)	All-wheel drive (AWD)
Battery capacity	102-kWh Li-ion	102-kWh Li-ion	102-kWh Li-ion
Electric range	500–610 km (WLTP)	500–610 km (WLTP)	435–485 km (WLTP)
Charging speed	400kW DC fast-charger	400kW DC fast-charger	400kW DC fast-charger
Charging time	10-80 percent in 14 mins	10-80 percent in 14 mins	10-80 percent in 14 mins
0-100 kmph	4.15 seconds	4.15 seconds	2.78 seconds
Top speed	250 kmph	250 kmph	256 kmph

 

Safety

The 2025 Lotus Emeya comes with a host of modern safety features to keep you safe. There are the usual passive & active safety nannies such as stability management, traction control system, hill-hold assist, 360-degree cameras, plus a full complement of airbags.

However, the Emeya also gets ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) as standard. This ropes in features such as adaptive cruise control with a ‘stop & go’ function, auto-emergency braking, blind-spot warning, lane-departure warning, etc.

Conclusion

The starting price of the 2025 Lotus Emeya in the UAE is AED 439,000, which will get you the entry-level variant. The mid-spec Emeya S is priced at AED 495,000, while the range-topping Emeya R costs AED 585,000. Generally speaking, the Emeya is less expensive than the equivalent Taycan by quite a margin, making it an attractive option.

The Emeya should be just as capable under most circumstances though, so many buyers would not miss much in terms of usable performance. The base variant has more than enough features to keep most people engrossed while offering well over 500 kilometres of range on a single charge.

However, the mid-spec Emeya S could be skipped, since there isn’t a ton of difference in the features list between the two. That is not the case with the fully loaded Emeya R. It is not only more powerful than the three variants, but its technical upgrades make up for its inflated price tag.

Also read: Lotus introduces Theory 1 EV concept packed with 1,000hp