Autocar July 17, 2019

ASTON MARTIN BOSS Andy Palmer has called the government’s Brexit strategy “laughable”, its electric vehicle policy “nonsensical” and the idea of full autonomy “absurd” among his articulate dismantling of current topics (p20). It’s hard to argue with him. Whatever you think of Brexit, no one has been helped by the negotiation process dragging on for so long. If the UK really wanted to be a world leader in battery production, it would have pledged even more money. If all the pledged money has gone to EVs, what if hydrogen or another technology takes off? If it wants to improve air quality, it must do more to get old diesels off the road. If it wants to cut CO2, it must continue to support the sale of new diesels. Within all that lie…

“No more than 130 Lotus Evijas will be built, each priced at £2.04 million” Lotus has revealed the Evija, the all-electric hypercar it claims will be “the most powerful production car in the world”. An output of 1973bhp is promised when it hits roads next year, which is more than the upcoming 1888bhp Pininfarina Battista and Rimac C_Two, and the 1479bhp internally combusted Bugatti Chiron currently in production. No more than 130 of the two-seat hypercars will be built, each 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, apparently pronounced…

ASTON MARTIN BOSS Andy Palmer has called the government’s Brexit strategy “laughable”, its electric vehicle policy “nonsensical” and the idea of full autonomy “absurd” among his articulate dismantling of current topics (p20). It’s hard to argue with him. Whatever you think of Brexit, no one has been helped by the negotiation process dragging on for so long. If the UK really wanted to be a world leader in battery production, it would have pledged even more money. If all the pledged money has gone to EVs, what if hydrogen or another technology takes off? If it wants to improve air quality, it must do more to get old diesels off the road. If it wants to cut CO2, it must continue to support the sale of new diesels. Within all…

Tell us about the way air moves around this car. “Something very Lotus which we’ve taken to another level is the aerodynamics. It’s always been part of our history and motorsport: in the ’60s we were among the first teams putting wings on cars, we had ground effects in the ’70s and streamlining way back in the ’50s. With this car, the philosophy was that we wanted to harness the airflow over the body of the car, but also through the body of the car. We’re not the first people to do it, but we wanted to do it in a very sculptural manner that would give a different aesthetic to the car.” What does that mean for aesthetics? “When you look at the car from the outside you see familiar volume, we…

They call the floating instrument panel the ‘halo’, which is an appropriate metaphor for the entire Evija project. As with the Pininfarina Battista, it exists to help showcase and cast a warm glow over what’s coming from Lotus. We’ve yet to see what else that’ll be but, if Geely’s ownership of Volvo and Polestar is anything to go by, it’ll include an understanding that you make sure good people are in place, and let them get on with things. And so to the Evija. What should we expect? Astonishing acceleration, clearly, to levels internally combusted road cars have never reached. And it’s worth noting that, if Lotus can keep the Evija down to the 1680kg being targeted “in lightest specification”, then it won’t weigh so much for a car of this…

“No more than 130 Lotus Evijas will be built, each priced at £2.04 million” Lotus has revealed the Evija, the all-electric hypercar it claims will be “the most powerful production car in the world”. An output of 1973bhp is promised when it hits roads next year, which is more than the upcoming 1888bhp Pininfarina Battista and Rimac C_Two, and the 1479bhp internally combusted Bugatti Chiron currently in production. No more than 130 of the two-seat hypercars will be built, each 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…