The Lotus Evija is finally out in the open and what a crazy vehicle it is promising to be. However, what does Jeremy Clarkson think of the car?
The veteran automotive journalist and The Grand Tour host is well known for his love of gas-guzzling performance cars and disdain towards anything powered by electricity. Consequently, he is not won over by the Evija.
In this video from Drive Tribe, Clarkson says that while the Evija looks very pretty and will inevitably appeal to those interested in high-performance electric cars, it’s not a Lotus he would buy. In fact, he says he would rather own a Lotus Esprit V8.
Also Read: Lotus Evija Debuts With 1,973 HP, Will Become World’s Most Powerful Road Car
While we understand Clarkson’s perspective, there is no real need to vehemently oppose electric performance cars anymore because they are coming whether we like them or not. With the Evija, Lotus will hope to establish itself as an industry leader in performance cars and that can only be a good thing for the British company which in recent times has struggled through a number of management and financial issues.
Lotus says production of the Evija will kick off next year and that production will be capped to just 130 units worldwide. Each car will be powered by four electric motors pumping out a combined 1973 hp and 1254 lb-ft (1700 Nm) of torque. Lotus says the car will hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than three seconds (probably under two seconds in reality) and rocket to 300 km/h (186 mph) in 9 seconds. To put that into perspective, the Rimac C_Two will need 11.8 seconds to hit 300 km/h.