The Car: Sculpted by the Wind

SCULPTED BY THE WIND

A radical-looking hypercar sculpted by the wind, the Evija is the first Lotus model to debut since the company’s acquisition by Chinese giant Geely. A spectacular beauty that unleashes a groundbreaking 2,000 bhp and 1,700 Nm of torque

by Diego Tamone

The Evija’s gull wing doors have neither handles nor mirrors. They are opened by remote control and sport pop-out microcameras instead of mirrors. Its original lines hug sharp angles and aerodynamic scoops that channel air flows through the bodywork

The car world is a serious place. Very serious indeed. A world of admirable dedication and self-sacrifice, challenge and creativity. Of unstoppable progress. Historically, the main role of the auto industry has been to envision and design cars that would allow us to live tomorrow today. An approach that is the result not so much of a visionary mentality as the much more practical need to guarantee functional and emotional continuity to a means of transport with a deliberately limited life span. Beneath that seriousness, however, the sector occasionally reveals a surprisingly human side. Customs, habits, oddities and sometimes even superstitions all lurk behind the much nobler and picturesque wind deflector of tradition. A good example is the origins of the names of production models. Some constructors have always selected them from a very select list of the most famous corrida bulls, others that have chosen to dip into the ethereal world of ghosts. Others still, like Lotus, pay more attention to substance than form. Since its very earliest days, every single sports car that has left the Lotus factory in Hethel, Norfolk, has had a name

starting with the letter E. A very British sort of pragmatism that gave us the Esprit, Europa, Elan, Excel, Eclat, Elite, Exige, Elise, Evora. And now, the Evija, the latest in the series and also the first model in the brand’s new direction after its acquisition by Chinese conglomerate Geely. But what counts most it that the Evija, which fittingly draws on the name Eve, is the first in the new generation of 100% electric hypercars. From 2020, in fact, no more than 130 examples will be built. A tiny number that will undoubtedly see the car’s future value and desirability skyrocket (it is already listed with a starting price of over two million euro). Lotus’s design director Russel Carr crafted the Evija’s lines by studying the aerodynamic flows generated by the endurance cars racing at Le Mans. This produced a body

Very much a limited edition car, just 130 Evijas will leave the factory. With carbon-fibre bodywork shrink wrapped around four electric motors, it also sports a 2,000 kW battery that is eight times more powerful than the one currently used on the Formula E single-seaters. A 400 km range and a full charge in under 20 minutes are very impressive boxes ticked too

bespoke-sculpted around a one-piece carbon-fibre monocoque chassis with striking Venturi tunnels through each rear quarter. What Carr refers to as the car’s ‘porosity’ is the clearest cue on a car that has been meticulously stripped of all superfluity, including wing mirrors which have been replaced by tiny cameras that relay feeds to monitors in the cabin. Its four electric motors unleash a staggering 2,000 hp and 1,700 Nm of torque, making the Evija the most power production car in the world. Its range is surprising too at 400 km as is the time required for a full charge – under 20 minutes. If it is not exactly the future made present, this stunning electric hypercar is still a powerful response to the issue of planned obsolescence. www.lotuscars.com

Clockwise from top, the LMPstyle steering wheel with red commutator switch to switch driving modes. The floating central console is angled towards the driver; the access compartment for rapid charging; an aero close-up of the front wheel arch’s air tunnel. Left, the Lotus Evija’s aero flows