Lotus may have set a new record by destroying one of its own cars in the fastest time possible, accelerating from zero to wrecked in less than three seconds.
The British brand, which is now Chinese-owned, unveiled its £2m Evija X electric hypercar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday afternoon.
But just a few metres from the starting line, the driver veered into the straw bales and quickly destroyed the front end of the one-of-a-kind 2,000-horsepower vehicle.
A one-off Lotus Evija X hypercar crashed just metres from the start line at the Goodwood Festival of Speed yesterday
The £2m prototype veered head-on and crashed into the straw bales just seconds into its uphill journey. Fortunately, the driver was unhurt, but the front of the vehicle was covered in mulch.
The Evija X is the track version of the Evija production hypercar. It is unclear what caused the crash, but commentators believe it could have been a software glitch in the all-electric car’s four motors.
Spectators rightly expected something extraordinary from the outrageous Lotus EV prototype, but not as it ultimately turned out.
The Evija X made its ‘dynamic debut’ at Goodwood House, on the Chichester estate that hosts the annual Festival of Speed, having recently set a new record elsewhere.
Before taking part (in some capacity) in the first day of this year’s event, it had made headlines for recording the fastest lap time around the Nürburgring for a “production car chassis vehicle.”
It was so quick, in fact, that it is the third-fastest overall time set on the treacherous German circuit, beaten only by the pure race cars Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo and Volkswagen ID.R.
Based on Lotus’ £2m Evija all-electric road car, the ‘X’ track version, driven by racing hero Dirk Müller, set a blistering lap time of 6 minutes 24 seconds around the fearsome Nordschleife.
But on Thursday, it took 6 minutes and 21 seconds less to turn its front end into mulch.
The all-electric hypercar could now hold the unwanted record for the fastest crash in the event’s history.
Fortunately, while the anonymous driver escaped unharmed, the unique electric hypercar did not.
The Evija X had previously made headlines for setting the Nordschleife record for a vehicle with a production car chassis. The X-Tack version lapped the dangerous German track in 6 minutes and 24 seconds.
Ready, set, go nowhere!: The Lotus managed less than 3 seconds in the penalty shoot-out before going off track.
It was all a smoke show, with a huge burnout on the start line before the car ended up in the bales.
It is unclear what caused the crash, but speculators suspect a software glitch.
The car can be seen burning up in a cloud of smoke upon starting off, only for the 2,000-hp machine to immediately spin out of control and crash into the bales at the side of the track, long before reaching the first corner.
Lotus has yet to confirm the cause or whether the commentators were right in thinking it was a problem with all four engines on the car.
The car project is said to be worth around $2.3 million – or around £1.8 million – and although the damage to the car was mainly due to broken carbon fibre, it is unlikely that Lotus will be able to rebuild the car to make it appear again at Goodwood this weekend.
If Lotus can repair the car for a second lap, it will have all the ingredients to challenge for the fastest time in history.
This unique hypercar boasts a 0-62 mph acceleration time of less than three seconds thanks to its massive 2,011 hp, a top speed of 218 mph (electronically limited) and a torque of 1,704 Newton meters that could place it among the fastest cars to complete the famous hill climb.
Hopefully it will really disappear into the distance if it can come back for a second try.
Holy crap, Batman! This little Batmobile-looking electric car sped around Goodwood’s famous Hillclimb track in a new record time in 2022
The current fastest time on the Chichester House Hill route is held by a radical British-built electric car.
The McMurtry Spéirling, a battery-powered single-seater that reaches 200 mph and uses two fans to suck energy onto the road, recorded a time of 39.08 seconds on the 1.16-mile route in 2022.
With former Formula 1 driver Max Chilton at the wheel, it beat the previous record (held by a specially developed electric Volkswagen) by almost a second.
The little McMurtry, which has been compared to a miniature Batmobile, measures 1.5 metres wide and 3.3 metres long – smaller than a VW Up! city car.
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