Lotus Evija hypercar nearing Australian compliance

Lotus’s outrageous electric hypercar, the Evija, is undergoing final Department of Transport compliance for Australia ahead of deliveries beginning early next year.

The $3 million hypercar will start rolling off the production line at Lotus’s brand-new, purpose-built facility in the UK in the middle of this year, with first customer deliveries expected by the end of 2020.

Lee Knappett, director of Simply Sports Cars, the Australian distributor for Lotus Cars told assembled journalists the company was holding five serious expressions of interest for the 1470kW/2000Nm hypercar.

"We’ve got a little bit of work to do with the Department of Transport," said Knappett.

"We’ve been working with them. They’re very supportive of the program and they want to see the car here in Australia on the roads.

"But given our low volume import restrictions we face here in Australia, it needs some navigating. But we’re confident. We’ve got it listed on the sales register and we’ve been working with the Department for six months or so. We’re pretty much there with that."

The electric Evija is capable, according to Lotus, of sprinting from zero to 100km/h in a touch under three seconds, while 0-200km/h takes just under six seconds.

Take some brave pills and find the right stretch of derestricted tarmac and the Evija will power from 0-300km/h in less than 10 seconds on the way to a top speed of 340km/h.

Propelling the 1640kg carbon-fibre Evija are four electric motors and gearboxes, one at each wheel, powered by a Williams Advanced Engineering 70kWh battery pack.

Range is a claimed 400km on the stringent WLTP measure while Lotus claims the battery can be replenished to 80 per cent in just 12 minutes hooked up to an ultra-high speed 350kW public DC charger.

Just 130 examples will be built, each one with a range of customisation options to ensure – potentially – no two Evijas are the same.

For now, Knappett is working on bringing a production Evija (there are currently three prototypes in existence with a fourth one nearing completion) to Australia to help turn those ‘expressions of interest’ into firm sales.

"A lot of people want to either drive the car, or see the car in the flesh before they [commit],” he said.

“We’re just hoping to take them to an event, or to see the car here possibly. It’s not out of the question completely to see the car at some point.”

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