The Lotus Emeya is the fastest electric vehicle (EV) to lap the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) with a time of 2:20.317 minutes. This record was set by Daniel Lu, a Chinese national that currently races for Absolute Racing in the GT World Challenge Asia championship, during a recent time attack event organised by Lotus with support from local distributor Karrus Automotive Group.
Lu’s time is 7.473 seconds quicker than the previous publicly reported record set earlier in 2026, which was set in a modified Tesla Model 3 Performance that managed 2:27.790 minutes. Unlike that car, Lu drove a standard production-specification Emeya R.
This particular Emeya R is a left-hand drive unit from China, as the ‘Lotus Nyo’ badging indicates. For a bit of history, Lotus has been sold as Lotus Nyo since Geely acquired a controlling stake in 2017 due to a trademark dispute. However, this was resolved in January last year when Lotus regained the right to use its own name.
With 905 PS and 985 Nm of torque from its dual-motor powertrain, the Emeya R is vastly more powerful than the Tesla and is capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 2.8 seconds on to a top speed of 256 km/h, which is handy when chasing time on the 5.543-km circuit.
It’s worth noting that the Emeya R is from a time before Lotus updated its line-up to no longer use alphabet-based variant grading. From the 2026 model year, Emeya (and Eletre) variants are either ‘600’ or ‘900’, with a trim level attached as the suffix to make the range easier to browse through.
The time attack programme was led by Chong Yok Meng, senior director of chassis and vehicle dynamics at Lotus. In addition to Lu, local racing driver and ‘Prince of Drift’ Tengku Djan Ley was also present to take on SIC’s high-speed straights and technical mix of fast and slow corners in the Emeya R.
If you refer to our coverage of Lotus Car Malaysia’s 30th anniversary, Djan has long been associated with the Lotus brand and was responsible for setting a time of 2:27.932 minutes at SIC in an Emira Turbo last year.
The day started off well with a time of 2:22.770 minutes, which was already good enough for a new record. Believing there is an even quicker time to achieve, the technical team worked to optimise the car further before getting it back on track. Fresh tyres and refreshed brakes were just what were needed for the car arriving from China to achieve the headline record time.
“At Lotus, the track has always been the ultimate proving ground. Every Lotus is engineered around one purpose – ‘For The Drivers’. Every engineering decision we make, from chassis tuning and steering feel to aerodynamics and power delivery, is focused on delivering confidence, precision and an engaging driving experience,” said Chong.
“The Emeya carries that same philosophy into the electric era. It has been developed with the same DNA that has defined Lotus for more than 75 years. This record is more than a lap time — it validates our engineering philosophy and proves that electrification enhances, rather than compromises, the Lotus driving experience,” he added.
