New impulses from sports car manufacturer Lotus have been rare for many years. But now, thanks to new majority shareholder Geely, the British are back with a spectacular novelty.
The manageable round of sports cars of the megawatt-class, so models with more than 1000 kilowatts of engine power, has grown by another member: Evija is the flat flounder, which will give the slightly faded English sports car manufacturer Lotus new shine. Unlike previous models of the brand set the Englishman in this Hypercar project on a purely electric drive, which leaves far behind with all its 2000 hp and 1700 Newton meters each Lotus.
A total of four engines are responsible for this level of performance – there is one machine per wheel, which blesses the Evija with all-wheel drive. Thanks to a lightweight chassis in carbon monocoque construction, the engine quartet has to set only 1680 kilograms in motion. Little wonder, therefore, that the Gullwing, according to the manufacturer for the 100 km / h sprint takes less than three seconds. Less than nine seconds should take it until the number 300 is on the clock.
Max creates the aerodynamically daring drawn Briton 340 km / h. However, the Stromer will not be able to keep up this pace for too long, because the 70 kWh battery, which according to WLTP measurements should allow 400 kilometres of range, will then empty extremely quickly. In return, a quick recharge is possible: If a 350 kW charging station is available, a level of 80 per cent would be reached after 12 and 100 per cent after 18 minutes.
In the interior, the Evija offers a tidy workplace with carbon shell seats, a rectangular sports steering wheel, a display as an instrument cluster and a floating centre console with various buttons. The latter also replace a gear selector, with N, D and R for neutral, forward and reverse. In the doors still, small displays are noticeable, which show the picture of small cameras, which film the back traffic. On classic exterior mirrors omitted the Evija.
The production in Hethel’s main plant is scheduled to start in early 2020. Overall, only 130 copies are planned, which is also meant as a reference to the history of the sports car brand, because the Hypercar is also the 130th model of the Lotus brand. Interested parties can already place orders for Evija.
However, the English sports car manufacturer demands 250,000 pounds for a binding purchase commitment. For the total purchase price, a further 1.5 million pounds are due. Thus, the new Lotus plus VAT costs around 2.3 million euros.