British sports car manufacturer Lotus has unveiled the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar, at an event in London.
The event, hosted at the Royal Horticultural Halls, was made up of international automotive, business, technology and design media, plus a host of UK business leaders, corporate and commercial partners, government officials, Lotus employees, racing drivers and other distinguished friends of the brand.
Phil Popham, Lotus Cars CEO, and Russell Carr, Design Director, presented the two-seater EV hypercar to the audience. Popham described it as a bold statement of intent from the iconic British company, illustrative of its ambition under the stewardship of Geely.
“Evija will re-establish Lotus as a leader in terms of engineering and design. It is a hypercar that is built ‘For The Drivers’,” said Popham.
“The Evija is beyond anything Lotus has ever done… beyond anything I’ve ever done. We have created something beautiful, something new, dramatic and unique,” said Carr.
“Our auto industry has long been a source of national pride,” said Greg Clark, UK Secretary of State for Business who attended the unveiling. “The launch of the UK’s first all-electric hypercar, designed, engineered and built here in the UK, is testament to the skills and expertise of the workforce at Lotus.”
“A key part of our modern industrial strategy is to seize the opportunities of the future of mobility, including the move from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles. The Lotus Evija fits with this clear ambition.”
Further speeches were made by An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group and CEO of Geely Auto, and by Ma Hui, Minister at the Chinese Embassy, London.
The Evija is the first all-electric British hypercar, the first Lotus with an electrified powertrain and the first new model since Geely took control in 2017. It has been designed and engineered in the UK and will be produced at Hethel, UK, with a total of 130 to be built. The Evija has a target output of 1471kW, 1700Nm of torque and sprints from 0-100km/h in under three seconds. It has a maximum speed in excess of 320km/h.
The Evija has a driving range of 400km and requires 18 minutes to charge with a 350kW charger, but has the ability to accept up to 800kW of charge. It’s priced from £1,700,000 plus duties and taxes. A £250,000 deposit secures a production slot and order books are now open through www.lotuscars.com.
News of the unveil event spread on social media as the car was unveiled. Within 12 hours, videos of the Evija had been viewed more than 500,000 times on YouTube. Buzz around the Evija’s debut was also whipped up amongst fans thanks to a convoy of 12 historic and current Lotus sports cars – all yellow – which had driven around Central London during the afternoon.
“The world premiere of the Evija has been nothing short of spectacular, the perfect way to start a new chapter in this iconic company’s history. I am incredibly proud of what the team has achieved,” said Phil Popham as the event drew to a close.
“The Evija is a seismic shift for Lotus and signifies the rebirth of one of the UK’s most renowned sports car marques. It will act as a halo for the thrilling new range of Lotus performance cars that will follow.”
