The 2020 Goodwood Festival of Speed had to be replaced by the spectator-free Goodwood Speedweek, but that didn’t stop Lotus from doing what they had probably been planning to do: show off the Evija. Their all-electric hypercar has been in teased and talked about since April of last year. Back then, they were still calling it the ‘Type 130’ because only 130 units would be made.
The Evija was designed by Russell Carr, who has been with Lotus for many years. It is an all-electric hypercar with an electric motor at each wheel and a 70kW lithium ion battery powering the whole thing and giving it 400km of range. The car weighs 1680kg and full production will commence early next year as renovated facilities are now ready.
Check out the Evija in action here:
PRESS RELEASE
The all-electric Lotus Evija hypercar makes its dynamic public debut at Goodwood SpeedWeek this weekend. The Evija will be in action on the historic race track and will be taking part in a variety of high-octane activities, including the Supercar Run.
Three pre-production examples of the Evija are supporting SpeedWeek, one complete in a vibrant Lotus ‘Solaris Yellow’ finish and two prototypes wrapped in stunning black and gold, recalling iconic Lotus liveries of the past. The prototypes also feature a stylised image of the famous West Sussex circuit, accompanied by the words ‘Lotus x Goodwood: Creating History since 1948’ – acknowledging the year of the very first Lotus car and the first motorsport event at Goodwood.
Car fans can see the Lotus Evija on the ITV network, with multiple programmes on different channels across the weekend. See local TV listings for full details.
Gavan Kershaw, Director of Vehicle Attributes, Lotus, added: “We’re having a great time demonstrating the Evija here at Goodwood. Bringing the cars to an event like this is a welcome break from the hundreds of hours spent on proving grounds, where there’s a huge amount of open space and long straights to test the car’s performance limits. Goodwood is a fast and flowing circuit with numerous undulations in the surface, and so is a fantastic test and demonstration for the Evija as it’s the type of environment where many owners will use the car.”
He added: “We hope the TV coverage of the event will show people what an amazing vehicle it is, and we can’t wait to be back next year.”
Car fans can see the Lotus Evija on the ITV network, with multiple programmes on different channels across the weekend. See local TV listings for full details.
Lotus has also published a new US LOT Blog on the Evija, hosted on the Lotus media website here. It details how elements of the Evija have been consciously designed to meet the exacting standards of company founder Colin Chapman, and how that helps make the car a true Lotus.
More than 50 historic Lotus cars are scheduled to take part in Goodwood SpeedWeek. They include:
- Lotus 25 – the car driven by Jim Clark car during the 1963 F1 season when he won the Drivers’ Championship
- Lotus 18 – the car in which Sir Stirling Moss won the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix
- Lotus 49 – the car in which Graham Hill won the Monaco Grands Prix in 1968 and 1969
- Lotus 72-5 – Emerson Fittipaldi’s car from the 1970 season
- Lotus 72-7 – Emerson Fittipaldi’s main car from the 1972-73 seasons, and the car in which he won the most F1 races – five in total
- Lotus 79 – Mario Andretti’s main car from the 1978 season
