This is the 1973bhp electric Lotus Evija HYPERCAR

The Lotus Evija is revealed as Lotus’s 1973bhp electric hypercar – the first British electric hypercar – with low weight and stunning performance.

Lotus may now be owned by Geely, but it’s still a ‘British’ company through and through and has delivered what is – or will be when it launches –  the world’s most powerful production car – the Lotus Evija.

The firts new car from Lotus in more than a decade, the Evija comes with proper Hypercar looks, proper Hypercar price – £2.4 million – proper Hypercar performance and proper Hypercar power.

Forget measly 1000bhp Hypercars from the likes of Ferrari and McLaren, the Evija is in a different league, promising 1973bhp and 1254lb/ft of torque in a car weighing in at just 1680kg even with its hefty batteries.

Lotus say the Evija will hit 62mph in under 3.0 seconds – and probably a fair bit under 3.0 seconds – and 186mph in just 9.0 seconds on the way to a top speed of 200mph.

And before you start thinking Lotus will be sticking an electric Volvo powertrain under the skin as it taps in to Geely’s ownership, think again. Under the skin will be an EV powertrain developed by Williams Advanced Engineering, with batteries pushed low down behind the passenger compartment instead of in a ‘skateboard’ design and an electric motor on each wheel. And there’s a range of 250 miles.

Built round a rigid carbon fibre monocoque, the Evija manages to look both regular supercar and bonkers hypercar at the same time, and looks completely original in the process, a design which makes the most of advanced aerodynamics and the lack of constraints an ICE powertrain would mean.

Inside the Evija is simple and almost analogue, devoid of big infotainment screens – but OLED screens for the ‘mirrors’ – with an oblong steering wheel with a range of driving mode functions – Eco, City, Tour, Sport and Track.

The Evija is a statement of intent from Lotus, and just 130 are being built. But it’s what comes next which excites most as Lotus finally has the opportunity – with Geely’s money – to be the car maker it always promised to be.

We think Colin Chapman would be impressed.