Lamborghini shifts to top gear in electrification race, to invest $1.8 billion
Luxury sports car maker Lamborghini may be known for its insanely capable machines powered by roaring engines under the hood. But times are clearly changing in the automotive world and the company now plans to race ahead to keep pace. On Tuesday, Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, announced plans of investing €1.5 billion ($1.5 billion) to spearhead the charge towards hybrid and electric vehicles. This is going to be the largest investment that Lamborghini has ever made.
Although a fully battery-powered Lamborghini isn't expected to hit roads anywhere till the second half of this decade, it is a clear show of strong intent from the company which is owned by Volkswagen subsidiary Audi.
Towards this end, Lamborghini aims to shift its current models – Huracan, Aventador and Urus sport utility vehicle - to hybrid, petrol-electric powertrains by the end of 2024, confirmed Winkelmann. He however also added that no exact design has been thought of for an all-electric model. But he did mention that it is likely to be a two-door car.
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Stressing on the goal of reducing CO2 emission in the world and highlighting how diligently the automobile industry is trying to do this, Winkelmann said the task at hand possesses quite a challenge for a super sports car manufacturer like Lamborghini as one needs to focus on emission reduction as well as the performance of the vehicle. The goal to introduce an all-electric model later in the decade might put the luxury sports car maker behind rivals Ferrari which already has plans to introduce a battery-electric model by 2025.
Manoeuvring through the technicalities that come with electrification, Lamborghini says it will try to keep its sportiness alive in this process. “We have to define what sportiness is in the new era, in the battery-electric era," Winkelmann said. He also added that range will be the brand’s top priority and it is still working on it.
