End of an era: Lamborghini goes hybrid…and very fast

CNN

You'll soon be able plug in your Lamborghini.

Lamborghini, the luxury Italian sports car manufacturer, has revealed its first supercar equipped with a charging socket. This marks the end of 50 years of V12 gasoline cars dating back to Lamborghini's very first models.

The Lamborghini revuelto, a plug-in, is still powered by a V12 petrol engine but also features three electric motors. The car's Spanish title translates to'scrambled.' According to the automaker, the two systems together can produce 1,001 horsepower.

The car's price has not yet been revealed. It will provide driving sensations that range from loud, punchy, and frantic to quiet and smooth. The car has 13 different driving modes. The front-wheel drive low-speed cruise will be completely electric. High-powered, aggressive track driving will use the full power of the V12 engine as well as the electric motors.

Lamborghini, which was founded in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, in 1963, and has its headquarters there still, does not rest on its laurels. "Everything in this car is brand new, including the gasoline engine, which was specifically developed for this new vehicle," it said in an announcement.

The engine is positioned differently. The power of the engine was directed towards the front in previous Lamborghini V12 cars, beginning with the Countach. Transmission was located between the two seats. The engine's power is then redirected through rotating driveshafts, either to the rear wheels, or in some newer models to all four.

The Revuelto's engine is angled towards the rear to accommodate the battery packs. This unique arrangement solves an interesting puzzle. It allows the car to maintain a perfect weight distribution, with only 44% of its weight on the wheels in front and 56% of it on the rear, even though the batteries are heavy. Through an eight-speed gearbox, the gasoline engine and one electric motor power only the Revuelto’s rear wheels.

All-wheel drive is provided by two more electric motors that power the front wheels of the vehicle. Two independent motors on the front wheels also allow for 'torque-vectoring', which sends different amounts of power to each wheel depending on what is needed for cornering and traction.

Reveulto batteries can be recharged through a plug like in an electric vehicle, allowing for a limited amount of pure electric driving. Lamborghini has not stated how long it can drive the car on battery alone.

When the battery power is no longer sufficient to drive the vehicle on pure electric power, the car will function like a hybrid, switching between gasoline and electric power as required.

Batteries can be charged by braking, or taking power from the gasoline motor at certain times.

The car's body, which is primarily made of carbon fiber to save weight, has rear structures made of aluminum alloys. The V12 engine, which replaces the Aventador supercar, is slightly lighter by 37.5 pounds.

Later, Lamborghini will reveal the plug-in alternative for its other supercar powered by V10, the Huracan. Lamborghini will make its SUV, Urus, a plug-in. However, unlike supercars, it will not replace the current mode with a new one.

Lamborghini is yet to announce the price for the Revuelto, but the CEO Stephan Winkelmann said that all of these new plug in hybrid models would cost much more than the previous models. Lamborghini Aventador prices, the brand's last V12 model started at about half a million bucks.

Winkelmann stated that once the V12 Revuelto is in production, it will be produced on the same assembly lines at Lamborghini headquarters. Currently, the two models are produced on separate lines within the same factory.

Supercars of the future will share more parts than they do now. He said that the cost increase of switching to plug-in hybrid power will not be offset by the sharing of production lines and parts.

The Urus SUV will continue to be produced in a separate facility, despite its much higher production volume than supercars.

WInkelmann stated that the floor space created by combining plug-in hybrids on a single assembly could be used for Lamborghini’s next model, an electric car which is expected to debut in 2028. This model will not be a supercar but a four-seater.

Winkelmann said that an electric Lamborghini is not possible with current battery technology because the batteries would be too heavy.