Automotive

Lotus Evija X smashes Nurburgring record by more than 10 seconds

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If I were 14 again, this photo of the Lotus Evija X would be on my bedroom wall right next to my Lamborghini Countach poster
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Lotus Evija production model gives off a Wall-E vibe from the back
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The Lotus Evija, while exceedingly beautiful in my opinion, shares a very similar look to Ferrari
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Lotus Evija sports "Lambo" doors
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Lotus Evija X on its Nordschleife record-setting run
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The Lotus Evija X in the hot pits, ready to press the "send" button
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Lotus Evija X
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Lotus Evija X settles the debate on whether you should keep your wheels straight or turned for photos
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I think it's smiling at me. The front end of the Lotus Evija X
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That is unmistakenly a barn door affixed to the Lotus Evija X to produce more moo-force
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If I were 14 again, this photo of the Lotus Evija X would be on my bedroom wall right next to my Lamborghini Countach poster
Lotus
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For bragging rights to be the world's fastest car, Nurburgring Nordschleife is the benchmark. The Lotus Evija X – an all-electric hypercar – entered the 'Ring, looking to take the crown from the Mercedes AMG-One on the famous racetrack in Germany.

The Nurburgring Nordschleife 12.9-mile (20.8-km), 154-corner, "Green Hell" racetrack is the renowned place for full-throttle, full-send driving to attain prestigious lap records for car manufacturers. Its fast, twisty, hilly, often 5th-gear blind-entry corners with unforgiving run-off also make it one of the most dangerous road courses.

Ever since the track was built nearly a century ago in 1927, drivers and car manufacturers have fought to be number one. Back then, Mercedes lapped a pretty magnificent 12-minute lap time averaging 60 mph (96.5 km/h). Skip forward 96 years to October of 2023 and Lotus enters the 'Ring with its all-electric Evija X one-off race car, based on the Evija street legal EV platform.

The Lotus Evija X in the hot pits, ready to press the "send" button
Lotus

The drivetrain and four electric motors remain the same as Lotus' production model (thus retaining its production-spec chassis classification), however, its suspension and aero package are vastly different, soaking up bumps and hugging the ground better at 214 mph (345 km/h) while also producing over 6,600 lb (2,994 kg) of downforce with its additional front splitter, canards, and 747-sized rear wing.

That is unmistakenly a barn door affixed to the Lotus Evija X to produce more moo-force
Lotus

Those four electric motors I mentioned: 1,972 bhp (1,470 kW) and 1323 lb-ft (1,794 nm) of torque pushing it down the track like a bat out of Hades. It has a 70-kWh battery pack to draw from (for illustrative purposes, the Long Range Tesla Model 3 comes equipped with a 75-kWh battery).

Combine all that with Dirk Müller at the helm and you've got yourself a shot at the record books. And shoot their shot they did indeed: 6:24.047.

That's good enough for 4th fastest car to ever lap 'Green Hell.'

Lotus Evija X on its Nordschleife record-setting run
Lotus

Normally, no one remembers who finished second or third, and especially not who finished fourth – but what makes this fourth-fastest lap notable is the Lotus Evija X is the second fastest all electric vehicle to lap the 'Ring. And even more notably, it's the very fastest production-based chassis to ever lap the insanity that is the 12.9-mile Nordschleife, beating out the Mercedes AMG-One time of 6:35.183 set in 2022.

Watching the onboard telemetry while Müller was lapping at break-neck speeds, I frequently saw 2+ lateral G's, and with my Bose headphones on at full blast listening to the screaming glory of EV motor-whine being pushed to its limit, I could also hear every small protest of the tires – and it didn't seem like they were protesting much. The electric hypercar seemed to be on rails with a huge amount of mechanical grip. I think the Lotus might be able to go faster.

With a price tag of US$2.3 million and a limited production run of 130 Evija hypercars released into the wild, Lotus should be able to churn out more greatness almost as quickly as the Evija's 0-186-mph (0-300-km/h) time of 9.1 seconds... Even if the company is spending $70,500 a day to cover the Nordschleife rental fee to give it clear track.

A little more on Nordschleife lap records:

The fastest EV ever was a very purpose-built time-attack electric vehicle called the Volkswagen ID.R which ran a staggering 6:05.336 in June of 2019. Boasting a mere 670 hp with a meager 44-kWh battery pack that was sorely lacking and a top speed of 152 mph (245 km/h) down the fastest straights, Romain Dumas still managed to set the record. With some more juice and perhaps different gearing, VW might be able to create a little more positive press than did Dieselgate.

The outright record-holder around the present-day Nordschleife configuration is Timo Bernhard, driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo prototype in June of 2018. He set a physics-defying time of 5:19.546. You can watch his lap here, as words simply cannot explain the sheer magnitude of what a 5:19 on the Nurburgring looks like. Blurry, I guess, might be the best way to describe it.

These are lap times I can't even touch while playing Forza with the damage turned off.

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9 comments
Tech Fascinated
The Lotus is so quiet it seems effortless unless you watch the driver closely.
Troublesh00ter
Ridiculous fast, yet they think it has more in it? WHEW!!!
blanky2
Not just because the Porsche is the fastest but it has one thing the Lotus lacks..an engine i.e. SOUL
Wavmakr
Not taking away from this electric rocket.........but there is just nothing like the fire breathing, heart thumping scream of an internal combustion engine..........no substitute
Bob809
Soooooooo, looks to me like they just speeded up the video, really, that's how it looks, yet we know it was a for real lap! Incredible speed, and the driver needs a pay rise for that performance. Well done Lotus, what a car, what a test.
Rocky Stefano
So bloody boring. The noise of that car accelerating reminds me of my childhood Tyco electric racecar track. Yes Yes I know, EVs are clean. Who gives a shite, I want a V12 or more.
DavidB
I love how any positive story about an electric vehicle draws the petrol drinkers out of the woodwork like cockroaches.

I can hardly wait 'til there's no more gasoline, or it's too expensive for all but the 1%, or we make the planet literally uninhabitable—at least we won't have to listen to them whinge any more.
Nelson
I love the sound of the whistling air instead of a banging of pistons!
Nelson
This is just another overcompensation device for the lesser endowed rich guy.