The Lotus Evija has been unveiled to the public during Monterey Car Week last Friday.
At The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, a name that could only be topped by the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in terms of pomposity, Lotus unveiled the Evija electric hypercar for the very first time. And apparently, the new car’s presentation went over well with the assembled automotive royalty, with names like Jay Leno and Supercar Blondie giving the Evija their stamp of approval.
“This is exactly the start we hoped for,” said Lotus CEO Phil Popham. “Evija is an outstanding and exceptional car – designed and engineered to put Lotus back on the map as the innovator and technical leader that it is. Many orders are now taken, giving us great confidence to hit our planned volume as we enter production next year.”
According to Lotus’ press release, the Evija received “strong double-figure orders” and most of the car’s US production allocation is now spoken for. Given that each car starts at just over $2.1 million and a deposit of $310,000 is required to reserve an allocation, we can assume these American buyers have relatively deep pockets.
On the plus side, it looks like they'll be getting their money's worth. Lotus revealed the Evija's performance stats earlier in July, and the numbers are truly astounding. Four electric motors combine for a total of 1972.64 hp and 1,253 lb-ft of torque. Zero to sixty in under 3 seconds. Top speed over 200 mph. Range is a little short at just 250 miles (which doesn't really compare to a Tesla's 350-mile range), but the Evija's battery can be charged in just 18 minutes from a next-gen 350 kW charger.
Perhaps best of all is the Evija's interior. It's entirely minimalistic: there isn't even an infotainment screen. Instead, the car simply assumes the owner has a smartphone and just provides an integrated phone holder so you can place your phone where the infotainment would be. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration are seamless.
Just 130 Evijas will be built with production starting in 2020.