Mahindra-owned Pininfarina to design this 1,000 hp electric beast

Mahindra-owned Italian design powerhouse Pininfarina has signed a long-term agreement with electric vehicle start-up Hercules to design its 1,000 hp Alpha electric pickup truck and also other future products. Hercules says that its Alpha luxury pickup will start being produced in late 2022.

Though most of the details of Hercules' electric beast are still under cover, the EV has revealed that the pickup's powertrain's configurations of 1,000 horsepower will be delivered via a torque-vectoring four-motor drive system. It says that the motors provide independent torque control for stability and high-performance.

Along with the designing of its products, Pininfarina will also provide design solutions to showcase the EV start-up's products and for its vehicle ordering for retail locations. While explaining why the EV start-up chose Pininfarina, Hercules' Founder and CEO James Breyer said, "We wanted to engage the best to create a truly unique and differentiated product in our Alpha."

Hercules Alpha is likely to be based around the Nissan Titan but will use the company's in-house powertrain technology to churn out as much as 1,000 hp, CarScoops reported.

Pininfarina is one of the world's foremost designers of products from performance and luxury automotive giants such as Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. Over the course of nine decades Pininfarina has designed more than 1,200 vehicles. "We are excited to work with Hercules on the design of a new electric vehicle," said Giuseppe Bonollo, SVP, Sales & Marketing of Pininfarina. "We bring to this new venture... our ability to develop a new design language having in mind both our client’s brand identity and our shared commitment to environmental sustainability," he added.

EV start-up Hercules was founded in 2018 by James Breyer with an aim to manufacture environmentally-friendly vehicles tailored to consumers' tastes.