Lamborghini’s may be hard at work developing its first EV but that doesn’t mean it’s ready to turn its back on the internal combustion engine just yet.
In fact, company boss Stephan Winkelmann says that he thinks traditional gas-powered mills still have a future at the company, according to an interview in Autocar. At the very least, he wants to see what the future holds for synthetic fuels before the marque goes fully electric.
“Synthetic-fueled sports cars would be an easier leap for us, but we have to wait and see what the legislators decide about them, and whether we can get global agreement on their viability,” the automaker’s CEO told the British magazine.
Winklemann’s comments shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. Last February, the executive said that synthetic fuels could keep ICE engines around past 2030. Then, later that summer, the company announced the launch of a research and development project to explore their viability, which would be similar to the biofuel program at Porsche. Both marques are, of course, part of the VW Group family. Despite their investment, it remains to be seen whether synthetic fuels will receive widespread government approval and whether they can be produced at scale.
The automaker also unveiled its first series-production electrified supercar, the Revuelto, earlier this spring. The plug-in hybrid’s powertrain includes a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V-12 and three electric motors that combine to produce a hair-raising 1,001 hp and 793 ft lbs of torque. It won’t be the brand’s only electrified model for long. A hybrid Urus and Huracán successor will both launch next year.
This doesn’t mean Lamborghini has lost faith in EVs, especially if they’re designed for everyday use. The company’s first electric vehicle, the high-riding Lanzador, will debut during the second half of the decade and be followed soon after by a battery-powered Urus. Vehicles take time to develop and build, though, and because of that Winkelmann believes Lamborghini and its love affair with ICE engines have time on their side. In other words, we will eventually see a fully electric supercar leave Sant’Agata Bolognese, but probably not until sometime next decade.
