Lotus has a long-lasting history dating 72 years, back when it was founded in 1948 by Colin Chapman. Their involvement in Formula One saw them winning the World Championship seven times, and have developed some of the world’s most renowned cars such as the Tyrrell P34 known as the “six-wheeler” which was a six-wheeled Formula One race car. Their philosophy of reducing weight and simplify has remained the backbone of their development in cars, their latest creation the Evija follows its roots but with a hint of a modern touch.
Unveiled back in 2019, but going into production this year, the Lotus Evija is an all-electric hypercar produced by the company making it Britain’s first-ever electric hypercar. I think it’s fair to say; it might be their first attempt breaking into the electric car territory, and I think they’ve won it full stop. Much like their other British ally, Aston Martin with their Valkyrie, Lotus also decided to go along with giving a codename to the Evija. They have codenamed Type 130, essentially stating that only 130 of this hardcore, futuristic-looking speed machines will be made.
Looks is where the Evija excels at, it reminds me of a car that would perfectly fit into a Tron Universe. The curves, angles and the unique layout of the interior signify the potential and the future ambitions of Lotus. For a small English firm, the Evija looks mass-produced, the attention to detail is stunning, and the engineering behind it is jaw-dropping. It is also Lotus’ first-ever road car to be comprised of a full carbon-fibre chassis. Aerodynamics are once again at play here, and the way the air flows and the way it is channelled through the vents slingshots Lotus into a new chapter of automotive engineering.
The critical philosophy to any Lotus is lightness, and the Evija makes no compromise to this. As Lotus states the Evija is “tailored lightweight luxury”, and for a hypercar, the interior is relatively spacious with fantastic attention to detail being put in. An interesting fact about the Evija, all car manufacturers start their masterpieces from a critical component then build the car around it. Some create their cars around the engine, others around comfort and some around luxury. Lotus, on the other hand, started its development around the batteries, they wanted to create a racing car for the road that turns sci-fi into a reality.
The Lotus Evija is built around a 70kw battery pack which was developed in conjunction with the Formula One Williams Racing Team. Each of the four motors is truly individual from one another, and are positioned at the wheels offering balanced weight and stability. Each wheel, therefore, produces around 500 bhp, and a combined total of 2,000 bhp and over 1,700 Nm torque. What’s more, armed with automatic torque-vectoring means that power can be instantly distributed to all four wheels. When set to track mode power is added to individual wheels to help push the Evija tighter into the corners, which then results in faster and better lap times. The performance figures are just as mind-blowing as the engineering that’s gone into creating this masterpiece of a machine, 0-62 mph is achieved in under 3 seconds, and a top speed of just over 200 mph. However, 0-186 mph is achieved in only 9 seconds. Much like its rival the Valkarie from Aston Martin, the Evija is designed to push the envelope of automotive science in the pursuit for racking in the best lap times. Seeing these two on an all-electric head-to-head will be quite the battle.
The Evija carries with it a 70-year torch of blood, sweat and tears, and it does not disappoint. Bringing with it the new automotive era and set to continue carrying the successful and winning bloodline; the Lotus Evija is expensive costing in at £2.4m. Which is quite a lot for any car, especially a Lotus but the Greek definition of Evija meaning ‘the living one’ or ‘first in existence’ is a fitting name for this small company.
Sources:
https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/model/evija/
Images:
Top Gear
Bleeding Edge Digital 