Lotus Cars is celebrating the all-electric Evija hypercar’s latest award win with a gallery of new images taken during a unique and inspiring collaboration with some of the UK’s most creative photographic talent. The celebrations mark the results of the International Awards Associate’s 2020 MUSE Global Design Awards, where the Lotus Evija took overall victory in the automotive transportation category. Russell and the Lotus design team were honored by an international competition is judged by a grand jury of 56 design professionals representing 22 countries.
The eight exclusive photoshoots took place in and around Duke of London, a former 1930s soap factory in West London transformed into a motoring venue and tribute to all things automotive. Lotus invited each photographer to attend for one-on-one private access to the Evija, allowing them to choose how and where to shoot the hypercar in any location around the site. The results are now available at their Instagram feeds:
- @uk.shooters creators and photographers: Mike Will (@m.visuals) and Luke Jackson Clark (@watchluke)
- @London automotive editor Krishan Parmar (@masterkrishan)
- Photographer Alex Carmichael (@Carms)
- Photographer and model Timothy James (@ThisIsTimothy)
- Photographer Sam Moores (@sammooresphoto)
- Photographer and model Carl Thompson (@carlthompson)
- Online community, influencer, and photographer Thomas Howarth (@horsepower_hunters)
“When you have spent thousands of hours looking something from every angle—as I have with the Evija—it’s fascinating to see how talented and creative people choose to photograph it when they’re seeing it for the first time,” said Russell Carr, Director of Design, Lotus, who was impressed with the creative ways in which the photographers shot the car. “There is some amazing work in this collection and the design of the car really shines through.”
The Evija marks the start of a new chapter in the history of the iconic British sports car brand. It made its public debut at Goodwood SpeedWeek in October on the historic racetrack, taking part in a variety of activities including the Supercar Run. Three pre-production examples participated, including two prototypes recalling Lotus liveries of the past.
“Goodwood is a fast and flowing circuit with numerous undulations in the surface, and so is a fantastic test and demonstration for the Evija as it’s the type of environment where many owners will use the car,” said Gavan Kershaw, Director of Vehicle Attributes, Lotus.
About a month earlier, Kershaw delivered new insight into the car’s driving characteristics in a video featuring an engineering development vehicle testing on the 2.2-mile Lotus track at Hethel. He revealed details on the progressive deployment of power and torque through the car’s five drive modes.
Range mode is limited to 1000 PS (735 kW) and 800 N·m (590 lb·ft) and intelligently switches the car from four- to rear-wheel drive to maximize the distance available. City mode provides greater power control and decreases the level of regenerative braking for urban environments. Tour mode provides automatically switchable four-wheel or rear-wheel drive, delivering over 1400 PS (1029 kW) with torque vectoring. Sport mode delivers 1700 PS (1250 kW) and 1700 N·m (1254 lb·ft) and stability control systems set for increased traction. Track mode is the most extreme, boosting power to a maximum 2000 PS (1471 kW), delivering the highest level of torque vectoring, and enabling the car’s drag reduction system.
The video also shows the battery pack located behind the two seats, in a classic mid-mounted powertrain layout that Kershaw explains “creates an optimum weight distribution and makes the Evija exceptionally maneuverable.”
Lotus revealed the Evija in July 2019, and production is scheduled to start in 2021.
Another design story: