Lamborghini will celebrate the combustion engine with two new V12 models, before shifting gears to hybrids and, subsequently, electric vehicles.
The company has revealed its roadmap to electrification, which began with the low-volume Sián and will culminate in the first all-electric Lamborghini.
The company isn’t giving a precise timeframe. It says it’ll arrive “by the second half of the decade”, while also saying it’s planned “for” the second half of this decade.
Lamborghini hasn’t revealed any details of its first electric vehicle, other than that it’ll be a new, fourth model line for the brand.
A shadowy teaser reveals the new, fourth Lamborghini will have a sleek coupe body, perhaps a little more upright than an Huracán but certainly not another SUV like the Urus.
Before then, it’ll announce two new cars in its V12 model line-up in 2021, before launching its first hybrid series-production car in 2023.
By the end of 2024, the entire Lamborghini range will be electrified as Lamborghini aims to reduce product CO2 emissions by the beginning of 2025.
The company is investing €1.5 billion (A$2.34 billion) over a four-year period in what it’s billing its hybrid transition, which it says is the largest investment in its history.
It’s aiming to keep the “authentic Lamborghini driving experience” as the focus of its engineers, and will compensate for the additional weight of hybrid systems by using lightweight materials like carbon fibre.
The electrification of its line-up will help improve fleet emissions.
Last year in Australia, Lamborghini was the brand with the greatest variance between its CO2 emissions and its emissions target under the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ voluntary CO2 Emissions Standard.
Last year was also the brand’s best ever in terms of operating margin, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a drop in sales both in Australia and globally.
The company has already been tackling the issue of sustainability, with its Sant’Agata Bolognese headquarters becoming carbon neutral in 2015.
That includes the production lines, even after their expansion to include the Urus.
Lamborghini’s first toe in the water with electrification came with the ultra-exclusive Sián, limited to just 63 coupes and 19 roadsters.
The 6.5-litre V12 nestled behind the passenger compartment makes 577kW at 8500rpm, and is paired with a 25kW electric motor built into the transmission for a total of 602kW of power.
While most other road-going hybrid systems feature a nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion battery pack, the Sián uses a smaller, more energy dense, and faster-acting supercapacitor setup.
All up the electric motor and supercapacitor system are claimed to weigh just 34 kilograms.
The electric motor is able to provide a boost at speeds up to 130km/h, and helps out with low-speed tasks, such as parking and reversing.
Lamborghini claims the Sián is capable of completing the 0-100km/h dash in 2.8 seconds, or 2.9 seconds in the Roadster.
