The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed was the scene of an unexpected incident involving the highly anticipated Lotus Evija X. The British electric hypercar crashed violently into a straw bale barrier just seconds into its climb. The accident, fortunately without any consequences for the driver, raises questions about the reliability of the 2,000 horsepower racer.
A catastrophic start for the Lotus Evija X
The scene took place during Thursday's Supercar Run, one of the flagship events of the Goodwood Festival. The Lotus Evija X, the British brand's technological flagship, was preparing to demonstrate its capabilities on the famous climb. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.
Moments after receiving the green light, the Evija X performed an impressive burnout, enveloping the starting line in a thick cloud of smoke. That's when the drama happened: the car veered sharply to the right, violently hitting the straw bale barrier. The front of the vehicle was seriously damaged in the impact.
An incident captured live
Although neither Goodwood nor Lotus have officially shared footage of the crash, the event was livestreamed. A YouTube user named LittleT quickly uploaded a 47-second video showing the incident from two different angles.
The first view shows the departure and the crash, partially obscured by the smoke of the burnout. The second offers a clearer perspective, allowing us to see the sudden deviation of the car to the right. These images testify to the violence of the impact and the speed with which the situation degenerated.
Questions about the cause of the accident
In the moments after the crash, a Goodwood commentator quickly put forward a hypothesis as to the cause of the accident: “It's a computer software problem. It's not driver error. Something happened with the power going to the individual wheels that caused him to spin.”
This theory, if confirmed, would raise significant questions about the reliability of the Evija X's power management system. With its four electric motors developing a combined 2,000 horsepower, the car requires extremely precise control of torque distribution to each wheel.
A setback for Lotus
The incident is particularly unfortunate for Lotus, which was making its British debut with the Evija X at the event. The brand likely had high ambitions for the demonstration, especially since the electric hypercar had just set the third-fastest time in history around the Nürburgring just three months ago.
Beyond the image, the financial consequences of this accident could be significant. With a sale price of 2.3 million euros, the repair costs of the Evija X are likely to be considerable, if the vehicle is repairable at all.
Lessons for the future
While accidents happen every year at Goodwood, this one highlights the unique challenges posed by electric hypercars. Managing such high power demands extremely sophisticated and reliable control systems.
Lotus will likely need to learn from this incident to further improve the safety and reliability of the Evija X. The event may also prompt other electric hypercar manufacturers to be extra cautious in developing their power control systems.
Despite this setback, the Evija X remains an impressive technological feat. No doubt Lotus will do everything it can to understand the exact causes of this accident and remedy them, in order to allow its electric hypercar to demonstrate its full potential in future demonstrations.
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