Project CARS 3: Electric Revolution

Lotus jumps into the electric bandwagon with their first ever pure electric hypercar known as the Evija, their first all-new machine after over a decade, and signals the start of Lotus' new era. Project CARS 3 has the keys to the Evija and I'm checking it out what's what.

So, what's it all about the Lotus Evija, you may ask?

The Evija, mirrored by the word "alive", is Lotus' first-ever all-electric hypercar that signals the start of the British sportscar maker's new era since joining the ranks of China's Geely, judging from the fact that it's the first to don Lotus' new logo. While staying true to the Lotus tradition, the Evija is the first Lotus road car to feature a full carbon fiber chassis molded as a single piece and sculpted for better downforce. Aerodynamics plays a key role in the Evija so it's been given active aerodynamics in the form of a rear spoiler and an F1-style DRS, among many others.

With the electric powertrain equipped with the 2,000kW li-ion battery supplied with its management system by Williams Advanced Engineering and a target power of 500PS per e-motor, aiming for a 2K power output and 1700Nm of torque, the Evija is the most powerful Lotus ever made, making it capable of a 0-60mph time in less than three seconds and a top speed of over 200mph. That sounds hyper in hypercar standards but that's just the start because with 1,680kg of weight, it's the lightest.

The Evija has the ability to accept an 800kW charge (not yet commercially available to the public) which makes it capable of getting fully charged in less than nine minutes. In 350kW charge, the Evija can be fully charged in 18 minutes and it has a range of 250 miles by WLTP Combined Cycle standards.

Only 130 of these will be made from its Hethel home plant, each costing 1.7 million pounds plus additional costs, and all have been asked for.

The Evija we got at Project CARS 3 was set to over a thousand horses rather than two thousand as the release notes said but given the chance to get a hold of the Evija in-game, I have a lot of explanations about Lotus' first electric hypercar. Is it good? Is this the hypercar worth living up to the hype? Will this be Lotus' new success story? Of all the questions I came, one drive with the Evija explains it all. Yes, it's good but only just because while it feels a bit grippy for an electric hypercar, it feels so balanced and well-poised for an electric hypercar but it can be a lot tricky to behave despite being four-wheel drive. Man, torque vectoring really toys the Evija a lot, but despite that, I had a lot of fun getting my grips on the Evija any way I could and looks like it demands a serious challenge with some electric hypercar that has more hype than this;

This is the Rimac C_Two. Following the success of its maiden car, the CONCEPT_ONE, the C_Two is the CONCEPT_ONE's little brother that comes with the 120kWh liquid-cooled battery pack and four electric motors bolted in all four wheels, making it capable of unleashing 1,914hp of power and 2,300Nm of torque, hitting 0-100kph in less than two seconds and onwards to 412kph of top speed. Apart from the electric powertrain, the sleek aerodynamic design made it capable of hitting 0.28 cD in low-drag mode and it has a full carbon fiber monocoque with bonded carbon roof, integrated structural battery pack, and rear carbon subframe. It even comes with R-AWTV which replaces ESP and TCS and enables infinitely variable dynamic responses by feathering the torque to each wheel.

The Evija prepares to take on the C_Two for a quick lap around the GP section of the Dubai Autodrome, which makes it the perfect time to experiment with these two electric monsters.

On paper, the Rimac is surprisingly faster than the Evija but because the Evija weighs less than the Rimac, this can get very one-sided. Anyway, enough with the chit-chat because it's time to get the comparison going.

And now the lap times;

C Two - 2:01.896

Evija - 2:02.795

The Rimac C_Two wins but only just because the Evija managed to catch up at the rate of less than a second, which is surprisingly remarkable for an electric hypercar made in Britain.

Like the Rimac, the Evija is the future turned reality and in the event that the world moves on from petrol-powered hypercars, the Lotus Evija is the starting line for the new era of hypercars. Of course, it wasn't really the starting line because there are others before it that signaled this new era, but nevertheless, this new era we live in might sound like crazy but it shouldn't be because you couldn't hear a thing or two while enjoying this new kind of performance it possess. As they said, if you want to move forward, electricity is the way forward, and that is the bottom line.

Forza Horizon 4: Another Rimac

Remember Rimac? It's the Croatian car company that brought us the CONCEPT_ONE, the electric hypercar that made headlines when Richard Hammond crashed it and caught fire after crossing the finish line of the Swiss Hillclimb as seen in the Season 2 opener of The Grand Tour.



Well, past is past, but the speedo boys still associate Rimac with The Grand Tour because of the accident. Still, with them moving on from the TGT shock, they brought us another electric hypercar that follows the footsteps of the CONCEPT_ONE, the one Hammond crashed on The Grand Tour. Say hello to the C_Two.



Obtained from the recent Horizon Playlist by all means, the second outing of Rimac Automobili is all about following the CONCEPT_ONE's recipe, delivering shocking thrills with zero emission impact on the environment, making this electric hypercar something to get your hands on, unless you don't want to be like Richard Hammond of course.

With the 120kWh liquid-cooled battery pack and four electric motors bolted in all four wheels, the Rimac C_Two is capable of unleashing 1,914hp of power and 2,300Nm of torque. It is capable of hitting 0-100kph in less than two seconds and onwards to 412kph of top speed, that's Bugatti territory for a zero-emission electric hypercar made in Croatia. Not bad. Apart from the electric powertrain, the sleek aerodynamic design made it capable of hitting 0.28 cD in low-drag mode, and beneath the skin lies a full carbon fiber monocoque with bonded carbon roof, integrated structural battery pack, and rear carbon subframe, making it very light and very rigid by hypercar standards.

The C_Two features the world's most cutting-edge technology no hypercar possesses, including the Driving Coach feature that guides the driver with its racing lines, braking/acceleration points, and steering inputs, which reminds us of what setting Forza first-timers do before setting off. It even comes with R-AWTV which replaces ESP and TCS and enables infinitely variable dynamic responses by feathering the torque to each wheel.



Well, while there is so much to explain about the C_Two, it's off to some driving impressions, and because being a hypercar, it takes some expert level of driving to tame this silent but terrifying monster machine. The launch is more than enough to embarrass the Koenigsegg Agera RS, the speed king in this game, but handling one is no easy task, therefore drivers need to have some adequate judgment to master such a machine.

At this rate, I wanted to stretch its powertrain to see what's it all about the C_Two but since all the road courses across Britain are fully booked and because Fortune Island is too much of a challenge, I went to something awesome to flex its electric muscles.



Welcome back to LEGO Valley, where everything is awesome, and because I have plenty of races to take care of during my LEGO adventure, this is the perfect place for the Rimac C_Two to show its spark.



Because LEGO Valley has a racetrack in the northwestern part of it, this is the ideal location for this electric hypercar to let loose and it's time for some shooting hoops. Yes, hoops. We're going oval. Roll the tape.



Definitely, one of the tensest races ever done but the Rimac survived.



The Rimac C_Two may have the same DNA as the one Hammond crashed on The Grand Tour but such power, acceleration, and speed will not go unnoticed. It may be tricky to handle like most ultra-powerful hypercars in the world but the Rimac C_Two is more than enough to rack up the points and blow the competition away in a straight line, whatever it takes.

Now, at this point, I was going to call it a day so I can spend my precious time getting to know about the Rimac C_two, but before I had the chance, I got a bit of a problem...



Now I know what is like to be Richard Hammond...