Agent47 Posted September 4, 2020 Posted September 4, 2020 More recently, Lotus ended its technical development partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering, which had seen the two forms collaborate on the Evija, citing "delivery problems". Hethel added that "the end result will be a better product" as a result. Claimed to be the most powerful production car in the world, the 1973bhp electric hypercar is sold out for its initial 2020 production run. A video of the newly designed configurator show how the ordering experience begins for buyers. Autocar had a chance to play with the high-tech configurator, and meet the team behind it, earlier this year. The Evija is being built in at a refurbished facility at Lotus's headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk, called Factory 3. Work on the facility, which is a former Lotus Engineering building that was once home to the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton, is now near completion. Each of the 130 Evijas will be hand-built there. Lotus has told Autocar that all of the Evijas due to be built this year have already been sold, although it hasn't given an exact figure. “With our new factory ready, we are ahead of the pack in the emerging EV hypercar segment and 100% ready for some healthy competition," said Lotus boss Phil Popham, an indirect reference to the likes of the Pininfarina Battista that have so far remained quiet on sales. Dynamic testing of the car got underway earlier this year at Lotus's Hethel test track, which sits adjacent to the Evija production facility. Gavan Kershaw, director of vehicle attributes at Lotus, said: “Physical prototype testing at speed is a landmark moment for the Evija and hugely exciting for everyone involved. Our aim is to make sure it’s a true Lotus in every sense, with exceptional performance that’s going to set new standards in the hypercar sector.” While most track testing will be done at Hethel, Lotus claims it will use other demanding European circuits, too. "Over the coming months several prototypes will cover many thousands of miles and hundreds of hours of driving assessment, including on public roads" the maker said in a release. An output of 1973bhp is promised for the Evija, which is more than the 1888bhp Battista and Rimac C_Two and the 1479bhp petrol-powered Bugatti Chiron currently in production. Each of the 130 due to be built will be priced at £2.04 million. “Target specifications” include four-wheel drive, 1254lb ft and torque vectoring, giving it a 0-62mph time of less than three seconds, a 0-186mph time of less than nine seconds and a top speed of 200mph-plus. A production slot can be reserved with a refundable £250,000 deposit. The Evija, pronounced ‘E-vi-ya’, will be Lotus’s first new-model launch under Geely ownership, and is the maker’s first all-new model for more than a decade. It will act “as a ‘halo’ for the rest of the Lotus range” both now and for “new Lotus performance cars to come”. The car pictured here in a studio is for show, but Lotus’s design director, Russell Carr, told Autocar that “this is how it’ll be on the road. This is very much the production car. All the surfaces are made to production level.” The Evija, which is codenamed Type 130, is low and broad, at 4.59m long, 2.0m wide and 1.12m high. According to Lotus, it “marks the beginning of a contemporary new Lotus design language”.
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