Electric hypercars have been popping up like mushrooms over the past few years, with each manufacturer trying their best at creating the next poster car that will carry them into the future. Lotus was one of the first to do so, with the quite frankly bonkers Evija. The headline power output of 1,972 bhp makes it the most powerful production car on sale, although the likes of the Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista aren’t too far behind. Not wanting to be outdone, Lotus has unleashed the car’s potential and unveiled the track-only Evija X, setting the third fastest lap ever at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

It is beaten only by the insane Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo and the VW ID.R. The Lotus covered the 12.9 mile track in just 6 minutes 24.047 seconds. If you thought that was not impressive enough, it is technically the fastest car to cover the Nordschleife using the fundamental chassis and powertrain of its road legal counterpart, the Evija. Let's take a deep dive into how Lotus managed to pull off this incredible feat, with 24 Hours of Daytona and Le Mans class winner Dirk Müller behind the wheel. The official video of the lap is here, for your viewing pleasure.

Looking at the lap, what surprised me the most was the lack of understeer that I’d usually associate with a heavy electric car, and the uncompromising top speed with the Evija X hitting 212 mph on the longest straight. Some other brain melting moments during the lap were how flat the car stayed through Flugplatz and the entry to Schwedenkreuz while going over 155 mph!

What is also astonishing to see is the drop in performance, or lack thereof, from the battery pack. When batteries heat up over the course of the lap, it results in a loss in power, but the Evija X was pummeling down the back straight without any signs of giving up. You can see the slight dampness in the tarmac especially on the parts covered by the shade of the trees, where Müller had to lift off and wait to apply the power to avoid wheelspin. It is difficult to put the speed of electric cars into perspective on a YouTube video, but the stopwatch time speaks for itself. 

The Evija X uses the same powertrain, chassis, battery and driveshafts as the road legal Evija which produces 1,972 bhp and 1,323 Nm of torque with a quad-motor drivetrain. Each motor draws power from a 93 kWh capacity battery.

That is where the similarities end, with a revised carbon body for the Evija X. There are also reworked front and rear aero elements, such as a new splitter and an active rear wing with a drag reduction system. All of this gives the X an astronomical 4,500 kg of downforce to help it stick to the rather bumpy surface of the Nordschleife. The side profile of the car has also been slightly widened, after being extensively wind tunnel tested for this exact track. Lotus has been testing the Evija X on the Nurburgring since June 2023. 

And that is not all, since this lap was set in October 2023, parts of the track were damp at some places, and Lotus says the Evija X can go even faster! If Lotus further refines the car and tries again this summer, it could get close to or even beat the VW ID.R and claim second place on the hypothetical podium for the fastest cars ever to lap the fearsome Nordschleife.