The Evija is Lotus’s first fully developed car since it was bought out by the Chinese automotive group Geely, and on paper it’s pure madness.
For those of you who aren’t up to speed on Lotus’s entry into the realm of hypercars, the specification includes four extremely light and efficient single-speed helical gear ground planetary gearboxes that transfer power to each driveshaft from the battery pack mounted centrally behind the occupants.
Each gearbox comes with an e-motor that aims to produce the equivalent of almost 500hp a piece, for a total target output of 1,972hp. If this comes to fruition, it will make the Lotus Evija the most powerful production car ever created.
According to Lotus, the Evija will go from standstill to 60mph (96km/h) in under three seconds, and will keep accelerating up to over 200mph (321km/h). On top of this, its range will be around 250 miles (402 kilometers).
Lotus plans to make only 130 cars, each with a price tag of £2m (a little under $2.5m). The Evija will be a hypercar in every sense, but has Lotus strayed a little too far from its roots in the process?
Light weight, function that dictates form, and pure driver connection – these are the elements that made Lotus, Lotus. Whether or not the Evija will live up to Lotus’s original philosophy was the subject of many burning questions fired off during a press conference at Fuji Speedway’s recent Lotus Day Festival.
Weighing in at 1,680kg (3,703lb) in its lightest configuration, the Evija is a far cry from what’s considered ‘light’ – especially for a Lotus.
The counterargument to this is that despite the weight penalty from the batteries and electric motors, the Evija will still be the lightest EV hypercar ever produced – currently a very specific niche.
It’s hard to criticize the Evija’s appearance. Every haunch, curve, angle and line that has found its way on to this car has been designed to manipulate the air around it, and use it in the most effective manner.
To my eyes it looks absolutely stunning – especially from the rear.
The Lotus team present at Fuji Speedway discussed how the Evija was designed with driver interaction in mind, regardless of it coming equipped with a host of electronic nannies. But let’s face it – having almost 2,000hp and 1,253ft-lb at your right foot’s disposal without any assistance would not be a great idea.
And therein lies perhaps a possible problem with the Evija – it’s entirely too much. If you’re in a position to be able to purchase one of these cars, are you really going to fang it around the track? Or does it become more of an investment piece to sit in a private collection?
It all seems very un-Lotus.
I understand this is first and foremost a halo product to show the car world that Lotus is back and that it had better take notice. The technology developed on this project will surely trickle down to the more obtainable Lotus models in the future, like the Exige and the Elise, but that was something the team remained very tight-lipped about during the Q&A session.
But one has to wonder if the quote, “The Evija is a Lotus like no other, yet a true Lotus in every sense,” by Lotus CEO, Phil Popham, rings true. Regardless, we are keen to hear what you think, but maybe we should first take a look at the past and present Lotus cars for a reminder as to what makes a Lotus, a Lotus.
I’ll be back with more, shortly.
Ron Celestine
Instagram: celestinephotography
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'Add weight and complicate.' :^)
That rhymes so it must be true
I don't know if it's just me but the front of the Evija looks Lamboghini-ish to me
I agree.
The only impressive part of this is the back of the car. Who would've thought 10-15 years ago that LEDs would have such an impact on a car's design?
Yes, who'd have thought that dump truck lights would be modified to become fashionable.
I was inclined to agree with this statement, right until I remembered that even right now, there are people who buys Lotus and keep them as investment pieces, especially those limited/special editions.Example: the Lotus 340R. How many have you seen being flogged around race tracks, let alone being driven on the streets? So with limited numbers to be produced, I see similar fate for the Evija.
Regarding the weight of the car, it is inevitable that going the EV route means it will be heavy. Perhaps with time, battery technology would progress to the point where the packs will be lighter but more powerful and have much longer range.
I would like to see the Evija run against whatever the current hottest Lotus street car is. I'm interested to know how long this car would keep pace before the 265 tires give up hauling around that mass, and how long the battery would keep things going. Presumably brakes are no problem because of the cars ability to regenerate.
All that power and still only "under 3 seconds" (I read that as 2.8) 0-60. Do you think we've finally reached the limit of what's possible with four tires?
Well rallycross supercars can do 0-60 in under 2 on a good day, and those are not on full slicks. So I suspect there is still more to come in terms of reducing times.
Matt Farah had Russell Carr (Head of Vehicle Design at Lotus) on The Smoking Tire Podcast and they touched on a few of these topics. Give it a listen.
"Weighing in at 1,680kg (3,703lb) in its lightest configuration, the Evija is a far cry from what’s considered ‘light’" but in the context of a hypercar it's lighter then it's peers eg. Bugatti Chiron Sport is estimated at 1978kg (4,360lb)
It's disgusting we're at this point with super cars. Hard pass on all these over weight pieces of crap.
That's only one of a few cars that is heavier than the Evija. 1.7-tonnes is about the weight of the Porsche 918 Spyder, but still heavier than the McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and even all Koenigsegg cars.
The Evija is a stunner in person, no photo can convey that, but what hits a very soft and sweet spot here is that Series 1 Exige. But i'm biased here.