The Electrifying lightening hypercars of the Future

LOTUS EVIJA

The quickest Lotus ever is also the quietest, not to mention - at a staggering £2m - the most expensive. That hasn't stopped the orders coming in for a genuinely pioneering piece of engineering, this at least very much in the Lotus tradition Four electric motors give the Evija driver 2,000 bhp to play with, or about twice that of a Bugatti Veyron. Aerodynamics make much use of air passing through huge ducts in the Evija's dramatic bodywork. Interior is both minimalist and futuristic. A British masterwork.

PORSHE TAYCAN S

A luxury continent-crusher with genuinely startling performance figures: 2.8 seconds to 60 mph is quoted with a 162 mph top speed. Power comes from two electric motors, and is directed to all four wheels for the ultimate in all-weather handling. Interior refinements are exactly as beautifully honed as you'd expect from Porsche. A supercar for our times, without compromise.

PININFARINA BATTISTA

Pininfarina finally attach their storied name to a supercar of their own. The carbon fibre Battista is not only sensationally beautiful, but brutally fast, propelled by a quartet of electric motors producing 1,900 bhp. On Pininfarina's own figures, the Battista, named after company founder Battista Farina, will reach 186 mph in 12 seconds, or about the time it takes to sip and savour your morning espresso. If you have a million and a half to spare, it'll be well spent here.

RIMAC NEVERA

The first of these Croatian beasts has recently been delivered to 2016 Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg, with another 149 Neveras planned and an asking price that's knocking on £2-m. Rimac is one of the unexpectedly big names in the electric revolution, doing research work and providing the basics for a number of large manufacturers, Porsche and Hyundai among them. The Nevera is Rimac's second bespoke supercar, with four electric motors providing 1,914 bhp and an estimated 258 mph top speed. Perfect for any retired F1 driver.

NIO EP9:

From Chinese multinational Nio, whose range mostly comprises sensible SUVs and crossovers, comes the mildly deranged EP9. Tested around the Circuit of Americas in Texas, better known for its Formula One races, the EP9 set a new track record time. Looks are those of a world endurance car racer rather than a road-based machine. Six are said to have been sold so far to Nio investors with real-world buyers now being invited to place their orders: expect to pay £2.5-m with the small additional drawback that the EP9 is not road legal.

TESLA ROADSTER

The company modestly describes its upcoming range-topper as "the quickest car in the world" with a projected top speed of more than 250 mph and a barely believable 0 - 60 mph of 1.9 seconds. Official photographs show a coupe style model, with seating promised for four and a removable glass roof. First promised five years ago, deposits now being taken.

ASPARK OWL

The first all-Japanese electric supercar aims to be the fastest accelerating, too, with 186 mph coming up in 10.6 seconds.  Carbon fibre bodywork is wrapped around a carbon fibre monocoque with two electric motors providing power to all four wheels.

GENOVATION GXE

An electrified C7 Corvette Grand Sport made by Genovation, a US-based startup looking to capture the hearts of EV aficionados. It is packed with a 60 kWh battery, where power comes from two motors attached to its rear driveshaft. Being a 'Vette that makes 800 horsepower and 700 ft-lb torque, it requires $750,000 to own - only 75 units are planned.its mad stats are enough to make it an easy sell; 0-60 mph takes a mere 3 seconds, and it can reach 220 mph flat out. A feature no other EV supercar offers that can be had with the GXE is a traditional 7-speed manual transmission. Or a dual-clutch paddle-shift automatic.

LAMBORGINI TERZO MILLENIO:

Step forward Lamborghini, who clearly got this worldwide memo for sustainable motoring and immediately hit ‘delete’. For this new concept car, dubbed the Lamborghini ‘Terzo Millennio’, is quite simply nuts. The best kind of nuts, mind. Some context. A year ago, Lamborghini teamed up with the vaunted Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to build something that would “rewrite the rules on super sports cars” for the third millennium (that’s the ‘Terzo Millennio’ bit). A car that future generations of apex-enthusiasts could stick a poster of on their bedroom walls.

The Millennio intends to do away with normal batteries,

MIT instead looking into the use of supercapacitors for power. The next step is to develop a pack able to give lots of peak power, regenerate, and have limited degradation over the car’s lifetime. The collaboration with MIT aims to “overcome the limits of today’s technology and close the gap on conventional batteries’ energy density”. Some talk of ‘thinking outside the box’ has been deployed.

Whatever form this supercapacitor power comes from, it’ll be allied to a four-wheel-drive, four-motor setup, with a motor in each wheel. This, says Lamborghini, allows for lots of torque and moving energy by wire. 

The whole thing is based on a monocoque using Lambo’s forged composite tech, solely honed for aero. The body too will benefit from Lamborghini’s increasing expertise in carbonfibre structures (which means a lighter kerbweight). The plan is for this carbon body to also – somehow – act as an accumulator for energy storage.