It emerged Tuesday that King Charles has snubbed the toxic Tesla brand for Lotus, ordering a fully electric, $210,000 Lotus Eletre SUV, according to U.K. tabloid the Sun.
Despite Lotus having its roots in the U.K., their cars are now manufactured in Wuhan, the Chinese industrial hub synonymous with the outbreak of COVID-19.
The royals have long sought to buy British cars, favoring Rolls Royces, Land Rovers and Bentleys, but many of these brands have fallen into the hands of foreign owners in recent years, with production often moved overseas.
Charles is famously the owner of a pale blue Aston Martin DB6, a 21st birthday present from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, which has been converted to run off biofuels. Another iconic British brand, Aston Martin has struggled under a succession of owners in recent decades, and is now owned 18% by the Saudi public investment fund.
Lotus was established as a boutique British sports car brand in 1948 but was 51% acquired by Chinese owners Zhejiang Geely in 2017. They moved production from the U.K. to Wuhan in 2022.
The new Lotus will be specially painted in the traditional scarlet colors of royal livery, known as “royal claret,” and will be used at one of Charles’ country homes, the report said.
It is a fully electric car and has a range of 280 miles. The Sun said it goes from 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds and has a top speed of 162 mph.
A source told the Sun: “The king has always liked eco-friendly vehicles, but seems conscious that royal claret is the right look, even when off duty. It will look far more professional for the king’s personal car to match the state vehicles. The palace has hinted that if Bentley can’t make limousines for official use run on electric, they would look at other manufacturers.”
The U.K. is due to ban pure petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Two state Bentleys on ceremonial occasions are exempt from the legislation but are due to be converted to run on biofuel.
Tesla, meanwhile, has been at the epicenter of a months-long slump following Elon Musk’s controversial work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Trump administration.
The Tesla CEO has spent the past four months making drastic cuts to federal agencies across the country—and shifting his attention from the automotive company‘s headquarters in Austin to the White House.
Musk’s shift in priorities arguably impacted the company’s sales, which recorded a roughly 9 percent drop in the first three months of the year in the United States, according to The New York Times. Though factors like competition impacted the plunge, Musk’s close ties with the Trump administration were also heavily cited as reasons for the fall.
Some longtime Tesla investors even publicly pleaded for the billionaire to divest from his work at DOGE.
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