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Lotus hasn’t revealed the exact mix of Eletre specs currently heading across the Pacific, but the brand’s Canada retail site currently only lists three trims based around the same 603 hp (611 PS / 450 kW) powertrain and priced between $119,900 CAD and $139,900 CAD [$87,600 USD and $102,200 USD]. Other countries also get a 905 hp (918 PS / 675 kW) version.
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Lotus isn’t the only company rushing to take advantage of the new trade terms, which Canada’s government originally touted as a way to bring more affordable EVs to the country and help the nation meet its climate goals. Geely is making noises about bringing its own brand, as well as others, such as Zeekr, to Canada. BYD and Chery’s cars have been spied on North American roads, and Tesla is preparing its first batch of Chinese-built Model 3s for Canadian drivers, Drive Tesla Canada reports.
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Thing is, there is a quota on the number of EVs that can be imported, and these high priced models are taking up a bunch of those spots, displacing an equal number of budget models.
to be clear that is 16 of the 49,000. that is all lotus has brought over. this was a publicity stunt and a dumb one. if the government or whatever agency is in charge of approvals had half a brain they would have brought over a couple cheap ones first to camouflage this BS but apparently we are not even worth the attempt of subterfuge.
Wholly agreed, however I’m not expecting sweeping changes in the first year. The more interesting news to me is whether or not we’ll have locally produced cars made here, but it’ll likely be a number of years before that begins.