First came the turbocharged super SUV, now this. According to Car and Driver, Automobili Lamborghini is planning to electrify its future line-up of cars, and first in line could be the replacement for the seven-year old Aventador. If true, this move would mean the end of the company’s longstanding commitment to offer traditional naturally-aspirated engines for its super sports cars.
With increasingly stringent emissions requirements and cities banning cars with the internal combustion engine, Lamborghini may soon be forced to adapt by combining big, high-revving engines with hybrid systems. Company chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani told Car and Driver: “I am convinced that the naturally-aspirated engine coupled with a hybrid system can be the right answer to the super sports car of the future.”
As with many things, it’s easier said than done. Reggiani admitted that there’s an internal debate within his team on whether the hybrid system should add short boosts of performance or prioritise pure electric range, but then went on to say that any production system will most likely have to do both.
“It depends on the mission of the car,” Reggiani said. “In Strada, maybe it will have as long a range as possible. In Corsa, it will need to have the e-boost effect for a big power increase.”
A hybrid system can also bring other benefits – an electrified powertrain could allow Lamborghini to build a transmission that utilises the e-motor to fill torque gaps during upshifts and downshifts. This is something the outgoing Aventador’s automated single-clutch transmission suffers from.
“I think the main problem is not [refinement],” Reggiani told the publication. “It is what happens, for example, if you are in a corner and have to shift; then you could use the electric motor to guarantee that you don’t have torque interruption. I think that is a possibility to fill the torque hole that you have today, but the problem is that in some gears you have to fill a big amount of torque – when you shift up at low rpm, for example.”
Before you enthusiasts start flipping tables, don’t worry. Lamborghini will continue to offer its V12 engine, even for the Aventador’s successor. Reggiani promised that it will stick to the core ingredients that have made the Aventador Lamborghini’s biggest-selling V12 model. “I think the future for us is to do [something] similar to what we did with Aventador. We need to reinvent this icon of Lamborghini without missing the characteristics: carbon-fibre, the V12 naturally aspirated engine, and other components.”
But before the new model rolls in, Reggiani hinted that there could be an even more hardcore version of the ageing super sports car in the works, more so than the Aventador Superveloce. “Our job is to try to have as much as possible from our investment,” he said.
What about a completely electric Lamborghini? Well, as ghastly as that sounds, Reggiani believes Lamborghini will eventually get to EVs, but don’t expect to see one in the near future. “It is clear that the roadmap of the future will be hybrid and then after that will be electric. How many waves of hybrid will be necessary is difficult to forecast, but I know that sooner or later it will be electric.”
GALLERY: Lamborghini Aventador Performante spyshots
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Many in paultan here will claim diesel is the way to go , high torque etc
Wow, even hardcore sportscar like this going to be hybrid. When will our Proton and Perodua going to give us Hybrid and EV???
Pls continue to produce very beautiful and desirable cars on our road
I thought we already have the Lamborghini Asterion?
Electric will rule meh, the real raw powar