2025 is the year that we will see the first completely electric Lamborghini. That date is the last in the car manufacturer’s four-year plan to eliminate internal combustion engines in their cars.
Lamborghini aren’t the first luxury car manufacturer to commit to the production of electric vehicles. Jaguar have said that all their internal combustion engine models will be discontinued by 2025 but has not announced the details of any new EV models. Bentley have said they will have shifted to battery-electric models by 2030 and all their models will have a plug-in hybrid option by 2026. Lamborghini it seems, are planning to implement their EV plans a little faster.
CEO & President of Automobili Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann, stated,
“Lamborghini’s electrification plan is a newly-plotted course, necessary in the context of a radically-changing world, where we want to make out contribution by continuing to reduce environmental impact through concrete projects. Our response is a plan with a 360 degree approach, encompassing our products and our Sant’Agata Bolognese location, taking us towards a more sustainable future, while always remaining faithful to our DNA.”
A three-phase plan is in place with the first step, strangely enough, being a ‘celebration’ of the petrol engine. So basically, nothing really changes until 2023 when we will see the first hybrid Lamborghini, initiating phase two. The end of phase-two will see a conversion of the company’s entire range to hybrid power by 2024.
Once we get into 2025, then we finally will get a completely electric Lamborghini. It will take that long as remarkable performance will not be sacrificed for the electric car. As Stephan Winkelmann has stated,
“Performance and the authentic Lamborghini driving experience will remain the focus of the company’s engineers and technicians in developing new technologies, and the application of lightweight carbon fibre materials will be crucial in compensating for weight due to electrification. The company’s internal target for this phase is to reduce product CO2 emissions by 50% by the beginning of 2025.”
This entire plan will see the company invest €1.5 billion, the largest investment in the history of Lamborghini. Winkelmann said,
“We are speaking about the biggest investment ever done in Lamborghini…It’s very important to keep a growth which is sustainable, to have a growth which is taking into consideration the needs of the planet, but also keeping this in line with the dream of our customers to have a super sports car which is excellent.”
It is not clear how the money will be used but there has been speculation. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, two thirds of the 1.5 billion will go to research and development while the other third will go to towards cost covering measures for new models in the timeline, excluding the all-electric model. But there’s no way to know for sure at this time.
Lamborghini are also well aware that their brand will lack something without the roar of a V12 engine. When asked if the company would replicate it or try something new, Winkelmann said,
“We don’t know yet. Studies are in progress. What we do know is that it must not be a duplication of the noise of the combustion engine. It must have a particular sound, capable of moving as much as the roar of a V12.”
Seems they aren’t trying to replicate it which may be disappointing to some but given that the car is four years away, it gives the company time to figure out what the new sound of a Lamborghini will be. Will it roar? Will it purr? Will it make a banshee-like shriek? I don’t know. But I am excited to find out.