The original Lotus Elise has been given an all-electric revamp courtesy of designer Ian Callum, battery tech developer Nyobolt, and the car’s original designer, Julian Thomson.
The new car, based on an Elise S1, is called the Nyobolt EV. It’s 3.93 inches wider and 5.9 inches longer than the original car, with new front and rear fascias, 19-inch wheels, and LED lighting all around.
The real innovation lies underneath the rear clamshell. In place of the original Rover four-cylinder is a 35 kWh battery pack from Nyobolt that can deliver a claimed 155 miles of range. What’s really impressive is the charging time: Nyobolt claims its battery can go from empty to full in just six minutes. Moreover, the company says the pack can go through 2000 charge cycles before experiencing any signs of degradation.
Nyobolt
Nyobolt doesn’t specify what sort of electric motor its revamped Elise uses, how much the car weighs, or what sort of performance we can expect. While the Nyobolt EV is very likely heavier than the car on which it’s based, we have no doubt it’s quicker in a straight line thanks to its electric powertrain. Whether it’s as fun to drive is an entirely different story.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the aftermarket turn the Elise electric. The Ecotricity Nemesis was based on the Exige, and set the record for fastest electric car at 137 mph in 2012, according to the Obscure Supercars Twitter account. Before that was the original Tesla Roadster, which first debuted in 2008.
Brian Silvestro
Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.
Keyword: This Electrified Lotus Elise Takes Six Minutes to Charge