Lotus Evija – First All-Electric British Hypercar With 250 e Miles Launched By Geely

The world’s first fully electric British hypercar, the Lotus Evija is the most powerful series production road car ever built. Revealed to the public in London this past July, the car sets new standards for advanced EV engineering. Its pure electric driving range is targeted at 250 miles. Evija’s mid-mounted battery pack will emulate Lotus mid-engined sports car layouts of the past. In tribute to its Lotus ‘Type” number – 130 – only 130 of the vehicles will be produced, starting in 2020.   

By John Coulter, Current EV CMO   

Evija (pronounced ‘E-vi-ya’) means ‘the first in existence’ or ‘the living one.’ It will join the renowned Lotus family of cars whose names begin with an E; Elise, Exige and Evora – three pioneering vehicles that have electrified drivers and elevated performance levels in the automotive and motorsport worlds.   

Lotus explains their hypercar’s e-power set up: “At the heart of the Evija is an ultra-advanced all-electric powertrain. It has been developed by technical partner Williams Advanced Engineering, famed for success in motorsport, from Formula One to electrifying the first four seasons of Formula E. The battery pack is mid-mounted immediately behind the two seats and supplies energy directly to four powerful e-motors. This highly efficient system is the lightest, most energy dense, electric power package ever fitted to a road car. With a target weight of just 1,680 kg, it will be the lightest pure electric hypercar ever to go into series production. Engineered for precise and sustained performance, the Evija has five driving modes – Range, City, Tour, Sport and Track. It can race from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in under three seconds and accelerate to a top speed of more than 200 mph (0-320 km/h).”   

It seems quite appropriate that the first hypercar from Lotus and the company’s first creation with an electrified powertrain, has been launched under the stewardship of Geely – one of the world’s fastest growing automotive groups, which now owns Lotus.   

Geely Auto is a young company but it has already established itself in the automotive world. It sells the best-selling domestic vehicle in the Chinese market – more than 1.5 million Geely cars were sold in 2018. When it purchased Volvo in 2010, the unlikely marriage between Swedish tech and Chinese manufacturing might was questioned by many. But with Geely oversight, Volvo sales have dramatically increased. In 2018, Volvo Cars set a new global sales record, breaking the 600,000 sales milestone for the first time since the company was founded in 1927. The company’s global sales rose 12.4% to 642,253 cars in 2018.   

In 2017, Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo's president and chief executive, announced that the Chinese-owned Swedish automaker will only make fully electric or hybrid cars from 2019 onward. Geely itself is developing an EV fastback called the GE11, which will be the size of a Honda Civic or Insight and will be sold globally.   

It’s in this atmosphere of aligned, forward-thinking automakers zeroing in on an electric car future that Lotus brings its Evija to market. Its target power of 2,000 PS makes it the world’s most powerful series production road car. And its ultra-lightweight carbon fibre monocoque chassis makes it the world’s lightest production EV hypercar at 1,680kg.

A Stunning Exterior Inspired By Nature: Says Lotus: “The most striking element of the Lotus Evija is its exterior. From every angle the full carbon fibre bodywork is stretched taut, appearing shrink-wrapped over the mechanical components. Crouching low to the ground, with a ride height of just 105 mm, the pronounced muscular haunches envelop the teardrop cabin that sinks between them.”   

“Taking inspiration from the aeronautics industry, the exterior is a perfectly proportioned blend of fluid forms and crisp lines. This is clearly illustrated by the gently curved but sharp leading edge of the bonnet, which is reminiscent of so many classic Lotus road and race cars.” 

“Cues for the Evija’s surface language was also taken from nature. Russell Carr, Design Director, Lotus Cars, commented: “During the initial design stage we spent many hours studying images of geological forms – rocks that had been carved by nature over the centuries. We believe we’ve captured these beautiful, intriguing and elemental lines within the Evija.”   

An exceptionally efficient exterior design component: the Venturi tunnels (2) which pierces each rear quarter. Taken from Le Mans race car designs, the passageways optimize airflow by directing it through the bodyshell. Known in the racing community as “porosity,” the high-energy airflow counteracts the low pressure behind the car and reduces drag, creating additional speed. Viewed from the car’s rear, each tunnel edge is rimmed with a striking red LED boarder that provides the stunning visual effect of a fighter jet’s afterburners, especially at night. Interior lights illuminate each tunnel.   

The EV’s cabin has been designed in a way to make occupants feel they’re at one with the vehicle. “At the core of the appeal of any Lotus is that the driver is in sync with the car at all times and almost feels as if they are wearing it,” says Russell Carr, Design Director, Lotus Cars. “Looking out from behind the wheel, it’s a wonderfully emotional moment to be able to see the bodywork outside, both in front and behind you. That’s something we hope to enhance in future Lotus models.”   

Climate control and a premium infotainment system are fitted as standard. Customers can integrate their smartphones via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, accessing their own music and navigation.   

Evija is the first Lotus to offer its drivers a complete suite of digital connected infotainment. A powerful on-board modem enables communication with the cloud. Drivers can interact with that data via a Lotus smartphone app. Using the app, drivers can monitor their Evija from anywhere in the world to check the battery charge status and driving range and heat or cool the cabin ahead of the next drive. A chronograph for recording lap times is included in Evija’s infotainment system, which sends all performance info to the cloud.   

The Evija is priced from £1.7m plus duties and taxes. A £250,000 deposit secures a production slot. Order books are now open through www.lotuscars.com.