Lotus Evija Takes Its 2,011 HP for a Gallop on the Road and Track
The all-electric Lotus Evija is a handful– on and off the track
Jethro Bovingdon of Top Gear took a set of hypercars to a gorgeous coastal circuit in the UK under the always rare Welsh sun. But these performance vehicles weren’t of the petrol-swilling variety. Instead, Bovingdon took the outrageous, 2,011-horsepower Lotus Evija on a trip to the track.
Without too much effort, it’s the “most powerful hypercar” they’ve ever tested at Top Gear. After a sufficient amount of time gushing over the Evija’s lines, Bovingdon slipped into the cabin via the fully powered doors. He described the carbon fiber-abundant cockpit as having “La Ferrari vibes.” But a vehicle like the Evija isn’t meant for static display; it needs to drive.
Bovingdon played with the Evija’s five torque-splitting driving modes as he took it on the circuit. While he couldn’t turn off ESP in any mode, the dedicated circuit setting met him with a sinister message: “Track mode not for public roads.” Hydraulic steering preserves the familiar– and expected– Lotus handling.
However, the Evija lacks regen braking and engine braking. It’s a system of binary stop and go. A yoke, like you’d get in a race car, replaces a wheel. It didn’t take long for Bovingdon to find things he liked. “Just so much performance,” he said. “Sounds pretty cool as well.”
There’s no faux engine and exhaust note, just the sounds of electric motors working hard to send over 2,000 horsepower to the ground. Bovingdon reported a bit of mid-corner understeer, but maintains that the brutish EV’s steering is “lovely.” “It does actually hurt your neck. It’s wildly quick,” he raved.
No surprise here: the Lotus Evija is a weapon in a straight-line drag race. Just as an indicator of the Evija’s raw speed, Bovingdon pitted it against a current-generation Honda Civic Type R on a straight portion of the Anglesey circuit. It was a slaughter. After all, it’ll hit 60 mph in two seconds. Not 2.3 or 2.2. Two flat.
On the road, the Evija becomes a deceptively apt cruiser with tour mode and lots of visibility. Bovingdon says the Lotus’s steering, its track day party piece, is happy on public roads. However, the Top Gear presenter says that the Evija’s weight distribution and platform feel “busy” under braking. And with the EV hypercar’s explosive straightline speed, you’re going to want confidence-inspiring stability.
Evija Is Far From a Hypercar Favorite
“Nobody wants them,” Bovingdon said about Lotus’s most powerful vehicle to date. Instead, the hypercar faithful tend to favor fuel-fed models like the Aston Martin Valkyrie, Bovingdon included. While the Top Gear presenter enjoyed the au naturel EV soundtrack of the Evija, not every wealthy would-be buyer will prefer it to the sound of, say, a wailing V12. Make no mention of how long you’ll spend charging it after stabbing the throttle with no regen facilities.
Still, the Evija’s quirks were far from enough to turn Bovingdon off. He summed the hypercar up as “amazing, absurd, totally outrageous. And much more engaging than I feared it might be.” What’s more, the Brit succinctly said, “I do not feel bored.” Now that says it all, doesn’t it?
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