Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
British automotive company, Lotus, aims to reinstate itself as a sports car powerhouse under Chinese automaker Geely by introducing a fully-electric hyper car.
The new halo Evija will be the most powerful series production vehicle ever built with nearly 2,000hp. Only 130 of them will be sold at $2.11 million each, making it the most expensive car produced by Lotus.
Geely had bought Lotus in 2017 and the Evija is the first model it has launched. It is also the first Lotus to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis to offset the 70 kilowatt-hour battery pack and despite the switch to electric, the Evija conforms to the brand’s tradition of building lightweight cars.
The battery pack, developed with Williams Advanced Engineering, would be compatible with a future network of 800 kilowatt chargers, but can be recharged to 100 percent from zero in 18 minutes using the latest 350 kW charge points.
The Evija will also achieve a range of 400km as measured under Europe’s WLTP testing cycle and its top speed is “more than” 322kph (200 mph). The vehicles four electric motors will provide exceptional dynamic response and agility on the road.
As for its design, it was inspired by Le Mans racers and includes two ‘Venturi’ tunnels on either side of the rear of the cabin, which help reduce air pressure and drag. The car is sleek with scissor doors and holds a rectangular steering wheel similar in shape to that used by F1 drivers. There are five driving modes including Range, City, Tour, Sport, and Track.
The single information screen faces the driver and includes information on speed, battery charge and satellite navigation directions and Lotus offers an app that shows the owner information about the car on their smartphone.
The center console stack is fitted with a range of honeycomb-shaped buttons with haptic feedback that control elements such as the car’s temperature. The cabin was designed by Russell Carr to keep the driver connected to the ride at all times.
Other Lotus cars include the Esprit, Elan, Europa, Elise, Exige, Evora and it has motor racing success with Team Lotus in Formula One.
