- Due to its small size, Pagani can’t afford to go against the wishes of its customers.
- The Utopia’s 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12 has been homologated until 2031.
- The future of Pagani’s powertrains beyond this decade remains uncertain.
In an age where a growing number of exotic carmakers are downsizing engines and/or adopting electrification, Pagani has gone against the grain with the Utopia, adopting a 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12 free of any hybrid gubbins. According to Horacio Pagani, this is because his customers don’t want a hybrid.
With exceptions including the Gordon Murray T.50 and the Koenigsegg Jesko, most cars competing in a similar hypercar segment to the Utopia are now hybrids. These include the Aston Martin Valkyrie and the new Bugatti Tourbillon, both of which feature large-capacity naturally aspirated engines, but are complemented by electric motors.
Some think these solutions combine the best of both worlds, improving performance and efficiency. But Pagani thinks they actually pose problems.
Read: Pagani Utopia Roadster Weighs The Same As The Coupe, Costs $3.4M
“In reality, no one is interested in a hybrid car,” Pagani told The Drive in a recent interview at the Utopia Roadster’s U.S. unveiling. “And I have hybrids in my collection; I have a Porsche 918 and a few more. But when it’s time for me to take a Porsche out for a spin, I’ll take my 911R or Carrera GT. Our clients think along those lines.”
“I believe that if you ask people, most of them will say that a hybrid is something extraordinary because it has all the problems of an electric car and all the problems of a combustion car – along with higher [development and maintenance] costs,” he added.
Pagani has given serious thought to a hybrid engine and an EV in the past but the time isn’t right. According to Horacio, the small size of the company means it can’t afford to build something that customers don’t want to buy. It also can’t call on a large parent company to provide it with new technologies.
“The hybrid V8 was considered, but the car was just too heavy, 400 or 500 kilos more, and our clients didn’t want anything to do with it,” Pagani revealed.
“We have to build what the client is going to buy from us. In 2017, we built a team to work on an EV. The whole team was focused and excited – including myself – and we defined the concept for this car and we got to work with Mercedes-AMG and other partners. We even started working with Lucid, which has excellent technology in the world of EVs. But then this is what happened: customers were not interested,” he added.
The Italian company isn’t in any rush to abandon the V12. The 6.0-liter twin-turbo mill of the Utopia has been homologated until 2031. That means you still have a few years to save up every penny you can to try and get on the waiting list for a future Pagani model.
