01 EVIJA COMETH
LOTUS IS THE FALLEN HERO of British sports car makers. No other company has a finer heritage–six F1 world driver titles no less–or a more noble bloodline of great old sports cars, from Elan to Elite, from Esprit to Elise.
Yet Lotus today sells fewer than 2000 cars a year globally, is habitually unprofitable and has launched no all-new car for 11 years. Porsche and Ferrari no longer consider the Hethel company a serious competitor.
That’s all about to change. Buoyed by new Chinese ownership and massive investment, Lotus is set to return to the sports car premier league.
The first sign of this long-awaited renaissance is the Evija, an all-new electric hypercar that will hit the road next year. It promises to be one of the fastest and most thrilling vehicles ever launched, both urban supercar and zero-emissions track star.
With Lotus targeting 2000PS (1973bhp/1471kW), the Evija also promises to be outrageously fast. That’s about twice the output of Ferrari’s new Ferrari SF90 Stradale or McLaren’s Speedtail. Or a LaFerrari or P1. Daniel Ricciardo’s right foot unleashes half as much power, and the Lotus will be more powerful than the brawniest Bugattis. It even exceeds the 1900bhp of Pininfarina’s EV poster boy, the Battista.
Weighing in at 1680kg in its lightest form,
