Lotus Evija: an earth-bound fighter jet

“Everything about the Lotus Evija is wild, from its outlandish styling through to its extortionate price tag,” says Rob Clymo on Gizmodo. It will cost £2m when it goes on sale in 2020 and all 130 of the electric “hypercars” will be made at the sports car-maker’s home in Norfolk. Lotus says the car is good for 250 miles on one charge and, provided you have access to the new extra-powerful 350kW charging points, the Evija can refill its tank in just 18 minutes.

The design has some radical flourishes, so you know it’s going to be fast. “Very fast.” The Evija weighs just 1,680kg, even with a “beefy” battery and four motors driving the wheels, and produces 1,973bhp, powering the car to more than 200mph.

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Lotus actually took its inspiration from fighter jets, says Ray Massey for the Mail Online. You can see almost all the way through its “Venturi tunnels”, which generate aerodynamic downforce that helps to keep the car earth-bound. The tunnels are edged in red LED light, giving the effect of a fighter jet’s afterburners. If you do see the Evija bearing down on you in your wing mirror, you’ll see the logo has been cleverly designed to read “ALIVE” when read backwards. You will also notice the Evija has no wing mirrors of its own. That would slow it down. Instead, it has pop-out cameras that are integrated into the front wings.

Norfolk residents who spot one in tests will feel like those old Navy pilots who caught glimpses of the secret SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, says Ollie Kew in Top Gear magazine. “What the heck was tha… oh, it’s gone.” All in all, “you’ve never sat in a better assembled Lotus than this. It doesn’t even smell of fibreglass and panic”.

Power: 1,973bhp. Weight: 1,680kg. Battery: 2,000kW. Range: 250 miles. Top speed: 250mph

This article was originally published in MoneyWeek