1,984-HP Lotus Evija X EV Is Here To Destroy Lap Records

Lotus is back, baby. After years plodding along making plucky British sports cars that promised high performance and low weight, the company has been given a new lease of life thanks to backing from Chinese giant Geely, which is helping it forge ahead with its electric ambitions. Those ambitions seemingly include toppling every EV lap record out there with its latest creation, the 1,984 horsepower Evija X.

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The track-going monster is based on the standard Lotus Evija, which was unveiled back in 2019 and is currently being assembled at the company’s home in Hethel, UK. That car packs in modern styling, a futuristic interior and an electric powertrain that kicks out enough oomph to power the car onto a 60 mph in a targeted sub-three seconds and onto a top speed of 217 mph.

Now, the Evija has been treated to a raft of updates and sent out to the world’s toughest race tracks in search of some lap records, and so far it’s claimed the third-quickest time around the formidable Nurbürgring, reports Autocar. According to the site:

The extreme track car was spotted lapping the Nordschleife last year, and Lotus has now confirmed that it achieved a lap time of 6min 24.047sec – 19sec behind the Volkswagen ID R.

Lotus claims the Evija X’s time is the fastest achieved by any car with a production chassis, though, and believes it has more to give, having set its unexpectedly quick lap time on a damp day in October.

The Evija X is bare carbon to save weight. Photo: Lotus

Clearly, Lotus isn’t finished with the famed German track just yet, as it told Autocar to “watch this space” and teased ambitions to return and try and top the timing sheet for good.

In order to chase this record, Lotus has reportedly taken the stock Evija and tweaked it in a few important places. At its heart, it remains the same electric hypercar with its 1,984 HP powertrain, quad-motor array and 70kWh, 800-volt battery that’s mounted behind the seats.

The changes, then, are all on the outside with the bodywork optimized with one thing in mind: aerodynamics. As such, there’s an enormous carbon fiber wing to add downforce at the rear, and a race-style diffuser up front. The car is even equipped with an F1-style drag reduction system to increase its speed on the straights.

Other modifications include a set of Pirelli track tires at each corner, upgraded carbon brakes to improve stopping capabilities and the Evija X comes with new dampers, reports Autocar. The car’s bodywork is even left in its raw carbon state to cut its weight and increase speed.

So fast it’s gone in a blur. Photo: Lotus

So far, Lotus is adamant that this this monster is a one-off for the company’s engineers and drivers to play around with on some of the world’s most famous race tracks. As such, there’s no price for the untamed monsters.

However, as the standard Evija starts around $2 million and Lotus has mostly sold out of its limited 130-car run, I’d expect the asking price for one of these to be a tear-jerkingly high number.