It felt like the dawn of a new era. Skeptical journalists, excitable influencers, and industry insiders alike all climbed aboard an open-top bus for a sightseeing tour of London that culminated at a cramped and stifling-hot theater. The unusual final stop was for the reveal of the nearly 2,000 hp Lotus Evija, touted to be the world’s most powerful production car. Six years later, it still is. Back in that heady summer of 2019, electric hypercars appeared to be overtaking (both literally and figuratively) the gas-powered old guard. Lamborghini had shown its futuristic zero-emissions Terzo Millennio concept, the battery-powered Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista were deep into development, and Elon Musk was promising a new Tesla Roadster for the following year. The Evija seemed to be riding the crest of a massive wave. Today, the tsunami that threatened to obliterate internal-combustion-engine (ICE) performance cars has all but receded. Lotus hasn’t revealed how many of the Evija, which starts at about $2.7..
