While Porsche is planning at least two all-electric models, with a Tesla Model S rival and an electric 911, Lamborghini has revealed that a purely electric vehicle isn’t on its horizon.
While speaking with Motor Authority recently, soon-departing Lamborghini chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said that current battery technology isn’t advanced enough to be used by the Italian automaker if it wants to maintain its existing performance-focused DNA.
According to Winkelmann, “If we have the chance to have a full elecrtric vehicle which could have the same price and performance for an SUV, I would say let’s go for it…But this is not the case at this stage of the technology.
“When we speak of this next generation—both for the SUVs and the super sports cars—we will see…It has to fulfill the needs of our customers, and it has to stay within the DNA of our super-sports cars. And this is today in our opinion not state of the art, when we speak of batteries—the power, loading, time, packaging, weight. All these together make it a car that’s not perceived as a super-sports car,” he said.
In late October 2014, Lamborghini unveiled its most advanced car to date in the form of the Asterion, a hybrid concept dubbed as a “hyper-cruiser”. Soon after that model’s release, Winkelmann revealed his distaste towards its powertrain and insisted it would not be built.
Given the likelihood of the Urus being available as a hybrid and after failing to rule-out an electric Lamborghini in the future, it seems apparent that the chief has had a change of heart.
PHOTO GALLERY
