Lamborghini may be a bit late to the plug-in party, but it does have some experience with hybrid-assisted powertrains. The Asterion LPI 910-4 from the 2014 Paris Motor Show comes to mind, a plug-in concept with V10 muscle. What’s more, who could forget that the Sian and Countach both use supercapacitor technology instead of lithium-ion batteries?
The Raging Bull of Sant’Agata Bolognese prepares to make the switch to plug-in hybrid this year with the introduction of the Aventador’s replacement, a striking machine that integrates a front drive unit up front and another one at the rear. The Huracan's heir apparent is going PHEV as well.
Given that Lamborghini sells way more super utility vehicles than super sports cars, the Urus will employ plug-in hybridization for the 2024 model year. Lamborghini confirmed this powertrain way too many eons ago. Recently spied testing at the Italian automaker’s factory, the Urus PHEV sounds exactly as you’d expect it to do in zero-emission mode.
Boring! On the other hand, we shouldn’t dismiss it like that. Despite its Volkswagen Group-sourced platform and the Porsche-developed V8, that plug-in setup is a performance-oriented setup. In other words, it is the polar opposite of efficiency-oriented PHEVs like the redesigned Prius Prime.
There is, however, another side of the coin that Lamborghini won’t publicly acknowledge. Under the current Euro 6 regulations, automakers have a fleet-wide carbon dioxide emissions target of 95 grams per kilometer.
Anything over that is fined 95 euros per gram of carbon dioxide, multiplied by the number of vehicles delivered in a given year in the European Union. That certainly stings, and Lamborghini can’t afford to pony up money that it could otherwise use to bolster itself and the group.
With the introduction of the second-generation Panamera in 2016, the German automaker from Stuttgart also rolled out the EA 825 twin-turbo V8 engine that Lamborghini uses in the combustion-only Urus. The plug-in hybrid is best described as Lamborghini’s take on the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. Or, better said, the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid.
In the Cayenne, it produces 671 horsepower and 664 pound-feet (900 Nm). As for the Panamera, make that 690 horsepower and 641 pound-feet (870 Nm). There’s no denying that Lamborghini will take this V8-based powertrain to 700 ponies or thereabouts. Either of the aforementioned torque figures is good enough for the Urus PHEV, which is certain to be heavier than its combustion-engined sibling due to the electric motor and battery.
The Raging Bull won’t stop at plug-in hybrids, though. Come 2028, a 2+2 grand tourer with two/three doors will enter the scene with all-electric propulsion. Think of it as an Espada for the 21st century, as well as Lamborghini’s first series-production electric vehicle. It’s rumored to be based on the Volkswagen Group’s new Scalable Systems Platform.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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