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Lotus terminates Evija electric hypercar partnership with Williams

British sports car brand Lotus has terminated its Evija hypercar development partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE), Drive can confirm.


The two British firms with rich motorsport heritage had been collaborating on what is claimed to be the world most powerful production car.

A spokesperson for the Geely-owned manufacturer told Drive: "As the Evija programme enters its latter stages, Lotus has elected to bring the project in house due to delivery problems from WAE."

The Williams division declined to comment directly on the matter when approached by Drive, however it forwarded a statement claiming the decision is "wrongful, without any legal basis, and made for Lotus and Geely’s unrelated commercial reasons.

"In particular, WAE is firmly of the view that the allegations - including so called “delivery problems” - of breach of the agreement made by Lotus are false and contrived," the statement continued.

"WAE has been left with no choice but to instigate legal action to pursue compensation for unpaid invoices, none of which have been paid since April 2020, and other losses caused by Lotus’ breach of the agreement."

 

Drive

Above: the all-electric Evija hypercar. 

The partnership was announced in early 2019, however, earlier this year the Williams Formula One team – and its minority stake in WAE – were sold to little-known New York investment firm BCE Limited.

It has been speculated that Lotus's parent company Geely may be in dispute with the tech firm’s secretive new shareholders, however Lotus's spokesperson told Drive this is not the case.

The Evija launch was recently pushed back by at least five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It will now likely be unveiled mid-2021.

The £1.7 million (approximately AU$3.1 million) vehicle is powered by four electric motors, which draw voltage from a 70kWh lithium-ion battery.

It produces 1470kW/1700Nm, and has a range of approximately 400km.

Drive
William Davis

William Davis has written for Drive since July 2020, covering news and current affairs in the automotive industry. He has maintained a primary focus on industry trends, autonomous technology, electric vehicle regulations, and local environmental policy. As the newest addition to the Drive team, William was brought onboard for his attention to detail, writing skills, and strong work ethic. Despite writing for a diverse range of outlets – including the Australian Financial Review, Robb Report, and Property Observer – since completing his media degree at Macquarie University, William has always had a passion for cars.

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