LOTUS EVIJA
Matt Windle, executive director of
sports car engineering at Lotus
Cars, candidly reveals the iconic
brand “is like a 70-year-old
startup”. Windle is in charge of
engineering one of the most exciting global car
projects of recent years, electric or otherwise.
His task? To bring into production the 2000ps
full-electric, two-seat hypercar Evija, just
unveiled to the world, due on sale in 2020 and
representing no less than the re-birth of a
legendary British sportscar brand.
Backed by the fi nancial and tech clout of
Geely – the Chinese group that successfully
turned around Volvo and bought a controlling
stake in Lotus in May 2017 – Lotus now has its
best chance in decades to succeed. “The Evija is
important to illustrate capability, intent and
design direction,” Lotus CEO Phil Popham
says. “It’s not a false dawn, there’s substance.
Not only in terms of our ability to engineer a
product but to actually engineer a product with
new technology. It really showcases what Lotus
could be, will be, and how much support we
have from Geely. You’ll see another sports car
next year which will be more volume-oriented
and we will move into other segments as time
moves on too.”
64 // July 2019 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
Only 130 Evija
hypercars will be made to
honor its other name, the
‘Type 130’ – positioning
the vehicle as the latest
in a long line of
ground-breaking sports
and motorsports cars
from the Norfolk-based
manufacturer that have
all started with the
famous ‘Type’ prefi x –
and each will cost
US$1.8-US$2.4m
(£1.5-£2m) before taxes. At that price and
with that weight on its shoulders, the car has
to be a tour de force of technology, handling
and performance.
Luckily, Windle has more than 30 years’
experience in the automotive industry starting
with Lotus as a CAD designer but also with
Volvo, Caterham, Daewoo, Tesla and most
recently Zenos. Although his background is in
conventional body engineering, some of that
has been EV-focused, joining Tesla’s UK-based
team in 2005 and responsible for its fi rst ever
car, the 2008 Roadster, which used the Lotus
Elise as its starting point.
1
“80% of the car’s
downforce is created
by the design of
its underside”
Matt Windle, executive director of sports car engineering, Lotus Cars
2
/www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com