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Lotus Evija EV supercar is charging toward series production

It's almost time for Lotus to begin production of real Evijas bound for customers, but first, it must go through its final round of testing. To accomplish this task, Lotus had to prep its brand-new production facility to build the final prototypes. New photos and video give a glimpse of what the Lotus assembly hall looks like.  The Evija, which means "the first in existence," is an all-electric supercar that Lotus hopes will be the most powerful production road car ever made. The supercar uses electric motors for four-wheel drive with torque vectoring and has a battery pack rated at 70kWh. Lotus claims it has 1,973 horsepower and 1,254 lb-ft of torque, can go zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds, can do zero to 186 mph in less than nine seconds, and has a top speed of 200 mph. All of that, with a weight of 3,704 pounds.  Possibly more impressive are the claimed battery stats. The Evija, which is the first Lotus developed with new majority shareholder Geely, can supposedly fully charge in less than 10 minutes and has a range of 250 miles. With a 350-kW charger, it'll fill up in 18 minutes. Lotus says the Evija has been an extremely collaborative effort, as 20 specialist contractors and 50 experts have been on site for the past six months. They've been hard at work in the new facility, which is located next to the 2.2-mile Hethel circuit in Hethel, in Norfolk, U.K. Check out the new state-of-the-art light tunnel, the vehicle lifts, the gantry crane, and more above and below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

This 450-hp electric Lotus Evora is powered by Tesla and Chevrolet

When someone mentions an electric Lotus, the first thing that comes to mind is the Tesla Roadster, the California-based automaker's first vehicle. That car started life as an Elise before being heavily massaged and adapted by Tesla's engineers. In a similar spirit, the people at Onpoint Dyno are close to finishing Blue Lightning, a track-ready all-electric Lotus Evora. Blue Lightning uses a Tesla drive unit and a Chevrolet Volt battery pack, both mounted in the middle in place of the Evora's 3.5-liter Toyota V6. It's putting down about 450 horsepower at the wheels. The car was built for time attack sessions, so power is fed through custom forged wheels and super sticky Pirelli PZero Trofeo R tires, the same ones found on the last Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. There is a custom digital instrument cluster in place of the Lotus gauges. There's also a regen paddle on the left side of the steering wheel. With a full charge, Blue Lighting should go about 120 miles. While the car runs under its own power, it's only about 90 percent complete. It has no power steering, no firewall in between the seats and the motor and battery pack, no A/C, and a large hole where the shift lever used to be. Other final touches include fine-tuning the brakes and suspension. There is also a custom rear bumper coming that should make it look more like the new Lotus Evora 400. Onpoint Dyno expects the car to hit the track in the next month or so. Related Video:

Lotus Evija X track special appears in spy photos at the Nurburgring

Few people would say the Lotus Evija is lacking in performance. It's meant to make just shy of 2,000 horsepower and is light for an electric car at around 3,700 pounds. But apparently Lotus wants to go further. These spy shots reveal a wild track-only special that's clearly labeled the Lotus Evija X testing at the Nurburgring. We're assuming this X will be substantially lighter than a regular Evija. It has a bare carbon body with seemingly fewer individual pieces. The headlights are gone and so are the rear windows. The interior appears gutted, too. That carbon body is far from stock, too. It's much wider and has all manner of downforce-producing add-ons. The front has a massive front splitter and canards and cutouts above the front wheels. The sides even have wide splitters with struts. And the X's crown aero accessory is that enormous wing that rises well above the roof.  The wide body also encompasses fat slick racing tires that are almost certainly not street legal. They bear the Pirelli P Zero name on the sidewalls, and they're wrapped around center-lock wheels. AP Racing brakes are tucked inside. There are of course plenty of questions surrounding the Evija X. It's definitely a track-only machine, but is it a one-off, or is it going to be sold in extremely limited numbers to select buyers? Maybe Lotus wants to take the Evija racing? Though it seems more like a rules-be-damned type of car like the Pagani Zonda R. Or maybe the Volkswagen ID.R, the fastest electric car to lap the 'Ring, would be a closer analogue to the Evija X. The spy photographer that provided these photos said the track was rented out for the day by Lotus, and some sort of notary was on hand, likely to certify a lap time. If Lotus is gunning for an EV lap record there, the Evija R is going to be outrageously fast. The ID.R's time sits at a shocking 6:05.336. And if the Lotus tops it, it would become the second fastest overall car at the 'Ring. We'll definitely be looking forward to more details and an eventual lap time. Related video: