As if there was any more doubt over electricity’s status as the future of the automobile, one of the least green automakers on the planet—Lamborghini—has laid out some fairly drastic plans on how it will adapt and electrify its lineup over the next nine years or so. And once everything is said and done, expect the very first all-electric Lamborghini to arrive before the decade is out.
Like some sort of three-act play, Lambo is separating its road to a greener raging bull into three phases: the first phase will see the company let itself “celebrate the combustion engine,” the second phase will involve the rapid introduction of a fully hybridized lineup, while the final, third phase will consist of the launch of that aforementioned EV.
Spanning years 2021 and 2022, that first phase will “be characterized by the development of combustion engines for versions that pay homage to the brand’s glorious history and iconic products past and present.” Specifically, expect two new V12 models to be announced later this year. Lambo isn’t letting the gas burners go out without a bang.
The next couple of years after that will be the second phase, a transition to hybrid power with Lamborghini promising to offer electrification in some way, shape, or variant across its entire lineup by the end of 2024. The company’s first “series production” hybrid will drop in 2023 (think McLaren Artura-fighter, not Sian). With the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent, Lamborghini is planning to invest the equivalent of more than $1.8 billion on the switch to hybrids over four years—the biggest-ever investment in Lambo’s history. The Italian automaker says the use of carbon fiber will be even more key in this phase than it already is what with the added weight that comes with electric motors and batteries.
Of course, this will all culminate in the eventual all-electric Lambo which the company says will drop sometime in the second half of this decade. Rather than take the place of any one of Lamborghini’s existing products the car will be a fourth production model presumably to be sold alongside the Urus and the two obligatory supercars. Lambo also says the EV, whatever form it ends up taking, will be “at the top of its segment.”
Fortunately for those wanting a supercar from Sant’Agata with one of its fire-breathing combustion engines, it sounds like the old-school Lambos will still be around for a few years. That said, we wouldn’t wait around too long to snag one because, with today’s news in mind, it feels a lot like the beginning of the end.
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