The power and the glory
LOTUS is back!’ exclaimed its new chief executive Phil Popham as he unveiled the legendary British sports car-maker’s new 200 mph electric hypercar — which costs £2 million.
I was there to see the wraps come off the new two- seater battery-powered Lotus Evija in London on Tuesday. heralding the revival of the company, it’s but a glimpse of things to come. Inspired by fighter aircraft of the Fifties and Sixties, with rising, wing-like doors and a futuristic, but highly functional and minimalist, cockpit- like interior, the Evija accelerates to 62 mph in less than three seconds and 186 mph in less than nine.
It develops a massive 2,000 hp — equivalent to 20 Ford Fiestas — making it ‘the most powerful production car in the world’.
At its heart is a 2,000kW lithium ion battery that produces enough electricity to boil 1,600 kettles and is eight times more powerful than a Formula- e electric race car. The new car,
limited to a run of 130, is designed, engineered and handbuilt at Lotus hQ at hethel, near Norwich, as a forerunner for a new expanded range of vehicles as Lotus looks for more factory space in Britain and China.
Evija has a claimed 250-mile all- electric range and can be charged in just 18 minutes. Pop- out cameras replace conventional mirrors.
The amazing view most drivers will get — from the rear after it has overtaken them — is designed to echo the afterburners on a fighter jet.
Lotus says the Evija is faithful to the pioneering principles of its mercurial founder Colin Chapman who built his first lightweight performance car — with a plywood-alloy body — 71 years ago in 1948.
By contrast, the Evija’s ultralightweight carbon fibre singlecell construction makes it the world’s lightest production electric hypercar, at 1,680kg.
It will be followed next year by a new petrol sports car, after which every new Lotus — including SUVs and crossovers — will have a fully electric option.
Since 2017, Lotus has been part of the giant Chinese geely group, which also owns Sweden’s Volvo and the London electric cab company LEVC.
From its high point, winning F1 and producing landmark cars like the Lotus 7 and Esprit, Lotus languished latterly under the ownership of Malaysia’s Proton. Now geely is investing billions.