Automobile. King Charles III buys himself a car worth more than 100,000 euros.

The British monarch has found his replacement at the Jaguar I-Race. One of the monarchy's first electric cars, auctioned in 2024 and owned by King Charles III, is no longer the only fully electric model in the royal garage. The British sovereign has acquired a fully electric Lotus Eletre. The "hyper-SUV," worth over 100,000 euros, has a range of 513 km and a power output of over 900 hp.

This choice was no coincidence for King Charles III, who made ecology his main passion. In 2008, he modified the Seychelles blue Aston Martin DB6 Volante, given to him by his mother for his 21st birthday, so that it could run on bioethanol. "My Aston Martin, a car I've had for 51 years, runs on English white wine residue and whey from the cheese-making process," the monarch told the BBC in 2021.

The Lotus Eletre R, which goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.95 seconds, is expected to sport the "Royal Claret" paint scheme, reserved for the monarchy's cars, according to The Sun. Designed at the Lotus Tech Creative Centre in the Midlands region, it is assembled in Wuhan, China. Indeed, the Lotus brand is owned by the Chinese manufacturer Geely.

The monarchy has not yet confirmed whether the other vehicles in the fleet will be 100% electric, like the legendary Bentleys. "The palace has suggested that if Bentley is unable to run the official limousines on electricity, it will look to other manufacturers," an anonymous source told the British media outlet. "The fact that Lotus can produce an electric SUV in royal burgundy really puts it in a leading position."

In the 2023-2024 annual report on the monarchy's spending, the British royal family announced its intention to reduce its carbon footprint by running its Bentleys on biofuel and its helicopters on sustainable aviation fuel. For example, when all its members' activities and travel were taken into account, it emitted 3,810 tonnes of CO2 in 2019, according to The Eco Experts website. That's the equivalent of more than 505,000 swimming pool fills or 6 million Harry Potter movie streaming marathons.