Raphael Thys
Lamborghini is defying the downsizing trend by sticking to V12 power for the Aventador replacement while the Huracan successor's engine has already been confirmed to have more than six cylinders. Both will be hybrids to comply with stricter emissions regulations, but the large-displacement engines will be largely responsible for the propulsion. The peeps from Sant'Agata Bolognese are not in a hurry to jump on the EV bandwagon just yet.
In an interview with Tech Crunch, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said the company doesn't have to decide now about when it should pull the plug on combustion engines. While mainstream brands will have no other way but to discontinue the ICE in the European Union by the middle of the next decade, the smaller ones will have an extra year to retire fossil fuel cars:
"It's a bit difficult, because the European Parliament decided earlier in the year that they will ban gas engines and diesel engines by 2035, and the smaller manufacturers like Lamborghini by 2036, so we don't need to decide now."
Lamborghini's head honcho believes there's great potential in synthetic fuels as the saviour of ICEs: "We still have the opportunity maybe to go into synthetic fuel with those types of cars." However, Winkelmann mentioned it can only be achieved if the legislation is changed, which he can't project will happen soon. If synthetic fuels won't gain traction, the 57-year-old executive says Lambo will go purely electric in the early 2030s.
The firm's first model to do away with a combustion engine will arrive in 2028 as a crossover. Before that happens, a plug-in hybrid Urus is expected to break cover before the end of the year. The facelifted Urus and Huracan Sterrato will go down in history as Lamborghini’s final ICE-only cars, with both coming out in the following months.
By 2025, the Italian automaker aims to halve CO2 emissions by hybridising all three model lines through a €1.5-billion investment. Some of the money will be used to further develop carbon fibre as a method to offset the weight gains caused by the additional hardware that comes with an electrified setup.