Lotus Wants To Build A £2 Million Electric Hypercar

Lotus isn’t mixing its messages when it comes to electric power: it’s going for the very highest target it can.

A report in Autocar suggests that the Norfolk-based maker of small, petrol-powered sports cars is set to change gear entirely and reveal a £2 million, 1000bhp+ hypercar to compete with anything its larger and wealthier rivals can produce.

The car would easily be the fastest and most expensive car Lotus has ever built, using the finest, lightest materials wherever possible. It’s not known whether Lotus is sourcing an electric drivetrain from elsewhere, but the report claims that power will comes from a ‘bespoke’ all-electric setup. Next-generation battery tech may be necessary if there’s any hope of keeping weight low.

Apparently named Project Omega, a concept is due for a debut sometime in 2019. Parent company Geely is said to be keen to raise Lotus’ standing among global car makers, shifting it into a seat at the very top table of performance brands to coincide with the real take-off of the electric era.

Its only rivals at the time of writing are the Nio EP9, which lapped the Nurburgring in just 6:45.9, and the Rimac C_Two. To gain similar performance Project Omega will need to utilise all-wheel drive, multiple motors and clever torque-vectoring technology. New tyres may have to be developed in order to handle the torque of this new generation of hypercars.

Omega’s chassis will be all-new and most likely made from subframes around a carbon tub in a similar way to McLarens. With Geely’s money behind Lotus, we can’t wait to see what’s possible.