ICE age to continue! Lamborghini backs a long-term future for high-performance hybrids, says Aussie customers aren’t asking for EVs

December 13, 2024December 13, 2024 Iain Curry 38738 Views lamborghini electric, Lamborghini ev, lamborghini hybrid, lamborghini lanzador

With a blissful, screaming Lamborghini V10 over my shoulder while drifting on a frozen Mongolian lake, this probably isn’t the best arena to bring up the Italian supercar brand’s EV plans.

Francesco Scardaoni, Lamborghini Asia-Pacific’s regional director, has also been enjoying Sant’Agata’s soulful combustion orchestra at this spectacular and remote icy skid party for well-heeled lovers of the brand, so discussing Raging Bull silent EV transport feels semi sacrilegious.

But do-so we must, as even this most spectacular of supercar makers – with a back catalogue of history’s most knee-tremblingly sonorous V12s and V10s – must front up to the EV shift.

At least we’re also discussing the internal combustion engine’s future. That’s clearly relevant to ICE – or ice – driving!

“The majority of our Australian customers are not asking for an electric car,” Scardaoni said. “They are more keen on having a hybrid, and they understand the way we managed hybridisation was no trade-offs, no compromise.

“We’ve been able to add more horsepower, more drivability, more performance and even better emotional performance, and whatever is written in Lamborghini DNA has been able to be transferred to the hybrid drivetrain.”

Lamborghini Revuelto plug-in hybrid — Lamborghini Revuelto plug-in uses a 607kW/725Nm V12 plus three 110kW electric motors. It’s not slow.

Lamborghini soon retires its stalwart Huracan junior supercar (along with its iconic V10 engine) to be replaced with the Temerario V8 plug-in hybrid.

By 2026 it will join the Revuelto V12 plug-in hybrid in Lamborghini Australia’s current line-up, following the SUV Urus SE plug-in’s arrival next year.

The Revuetlo PHEV flagship uses a 607kW/725Nm 6.5-litre V12 plus three 110kW electric motors, offering a hypercar-baiting 0-100km/h sprint time of 2.5 seconds. Little wonder it costs a million big ones before the almost mandatory cost options and on-roads.

But what about a full EV?

Lamborghini insists it won’t ditch a model from its line-up to create a sole EV version, as Porsche has done with its Boxster/Cayman sportscars.

Instead, a new fourth model will arrive as Lambo’s debut EV. It’ll be developed from the four-seat Lanzador concept shown in 2023 and slated for production by 2030.

Lamborghini Lanzador EV Concept – four seats, zero combustion.

This despite a market pushback against expensive high-end EVs and brands like Bentley and Aston Martin delaying launches of their first EVs.

But Scardaoni insisted Lamborghini has got its strategy right. He was clear the arrival of EV won’t trigger the demise of hybrid and the internal combustion engine for Lamborghini.

“Lamborghini’s strategy was, since day one of the electrification path, was to have hybrid,” said Scardaoni. “We always believed that hybrid was not just a bridge to electrification, but an important step to take not to go to (full) electric.

“We didn’t want to go electric, so, now we can say that our strategy was the right one. There are a lot of manufacturers going back to hybridisation.”

He pointed out Lamborghini is the first “super sportscar luxury brand” to offer a full product range with hybridisation.

“We’ll keep this hybrid range as long as we can; so probably in 10 years time, we will be still here running hybrid cars,” Scardaoni said.

Francesco Scardaoni, Automobili Lamborghini APAC Region Director, with the Urus SE plug-in hybrid.

Mr Scardaoni acknowledged government legislation would ultimately make a full EV move inevitable, but he personally had faith in synthetic fuels as an option to ensure combustion Lamborghinis could still be manufactured in future.

“Maybe 20 years down the line, if different regulations will force us to go electric, what is important is Lamborghini will stick to its DNA,” he explained.

When asked if solid state batteries would be a non-negotiable for a Lamborghini EV to keep weight down but with reasonable range, Scardaoni used our piston-powered ice driving experience as an example of where future Lamborghini cars had to work.

“Extreme cold, extreme heat, Lamborghini DNA must still be consistent so our cars will still perform in this kind of condition,” he said.

“If it’s solid state batteries of any other kind of technology, it’s a bit hard to predict what will be available 10 years down the line.

“We need the right technology, whatever that will be, that allows us to have a car that handles like we want and has the performance and emotional performance that we want.”

Iain Curry

A motoring writer and photographer for two decades, Iain started in print magazines in London as editor of Performance BMW and features writer for BMW Car, GT Porsche and 4Drive magazines. His love of motor sport and high performance petrol cars was rudely interrupted in 2011 when he was one of the first journalists to drive BMW's 1 Series ActiveE EV, and has been testing hybrids, PHEVs and EVs for Australian newspapers ever since. Based near Noosa in Queensland, his weekly newspaper articles cover new vehicle reviews and consumer advice, while his photography is regularly seen on the pages of glossy magazines.