Lotus has confirmed during that the Evija all-electric ‘hypercar’ (reputedly the most powerful planned production car – let alone electric vehicle) has entered its initial build phase.
As part of the press conferenceheir at the Guangzhou Auto Show, Lotus released a video of an Evija engineering prototype in high-speed action on a private circuit. You can watch video here.
As such, it marks remarkable progress by Lotus as the Evija was only unveiled in July this year, as reported here.
From this point on, it is planned for several Evija prototypes to cover many thousands of kilometres (plus hundreds of hours of driving assessment) on both test tracks in the UK and Europe as well as on public roads.
Lotus also confirmed that the Evija is still on-course to start production in 2020.
Gavan Kershaw, Director of Vehicle Attributes, Lotus Cars, commented:
“Physical prototype testing at speed is a landmark moment for the Evija and hugely exciting for everyone involved. Our aim is to make sure it’s a true Lotus in every sense, with exceptional performance that’s going to set new standards in the hypercar sector.”
Fun times ahead: And 2020 sounds like an exciting year for the rarefied world of the hypercar.
The Lotus will have performance statistics in the realm of 2000 metric horsepower and a top speed of 320km/hr, and 2020 should also see the new Tesla Roadster 2.0.
(0-100km/h in 2.1 seconds, 0-160km/h in 4.5 seconds and a 400km/h top end) and perhaps even the Pininfarina ‘Battista’ (1417kW, 0-100km/h in 1.9 seconds and 0-300km/h in less than 12 seconds).
It seems that with the move towards electric and away from internal combustion propulsion, the opportunities for exceeding the currently accepted ‘norms’ for performance at this level are opening wide!
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.