THEN ADD A TESLA

Time for the Lotus Eletre's biggest test yet: a head to head with the old guard. Can it upset the Model X as luxury electric SUV gatekeeper?

- TOM FORD

Kind of inevitable, really. If there's an electric newborn in the automotive world, the first thing it must be compared with is a Tesla. Which is an incredible compliment to the American company when you think about it. But we just happened to be jauntily clipping along a Norwegian backroad when we came across a brand new Tesla Model X - so it would seem rude not to see how the Eletre measured up.

Full disclosure here: the Eletre you see in the pictures is an S, and the Model X is a 1,020bhp Plaid, so the more accurate match up would be S (604bhp) versus Long Range X (671bhp), or 905bhp R versus Plaid. But luckily, we've experienced all the relevant cars, so there's a comparison to be had. And the first thing to recognise is that the Tesla is still rabidly competitive even though it was launched back in 2015. Eight years old is venerable in car terms, and although there have been generous improvements with the car in that time, there still really isn't much like it. Six seats in the Plaid (the regular dual motor Long Range can be configured with seven), tri-motored, over 1,000bhp and a 0-62mph time that calls into question the Eletre's world beating claims. It's also the most aerodynamic SUV in the world according to Tesla with a Cd of 0.24 versus the Lotus' 0.26.

It's still cool, too. The falcon rear doors simply never get boring, and the space and size make for a wonderful place to stow people.