Italian supercar maker Lamborghini has outlined a sweeping $1.8 billion plan to slash its vehicles’ emissions in coming years — including its first-ever all-electric vehicle.

Stephan Winkelmann, the brand’s CEO, told Bloomberg that the initiative — the most expensive in company history — will cut those emissions in half by 2025, one year after the company’s deadline to introduce a plug-in hybrid version of each of its models.
The brand’s first fully battery-powered car, meanwhile, is set to be rolled out in the second half of the decade.

Numerous makers of supercars are already producing electric vehicles, but they tend to have very limited production runs and very expensive price tags. Lamborghini’s efforts coincide with a major push into electric vehicles by Volkswagen, its parent company, but Winkelmann told Bloomberg that the challenges facing high-performance sports car manufacturers are different — and trickier — than those facing mass-market automakers.

For one, they must completely overhaul their vehicles without significantly altering the driving experience for a relatively small number of wealthy buyers. For another, although battery technology has come a long way, it isn’t yet able to get Lamborghini-style power into its small, lightweight frames.

The company did not disclose many details about its forthcoming EV, but Winkelmann indicated it will be a four-seat vehicle instead of a two-seat sports car.

Lamborghini last month reported delivering more than 2,400 vehicles in the first quarter of the year, a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2020 and a new record for the company.

Source: Thomas Industry