Lamborghini was ‘scared’ to go hybrid, but has the gamble paid off?
Electrification is tough to get right, especially in a flagship Lamborghini. evo speaks with the head of its V12 lineup to see if it was right to be nervous about the switch
The V12 Lamborghini is a sacred thing. For over 60 years, from the 350 GT to the Miura and through to the Aventador of the 2010s, each and every model has come with a pure-combustion, naturally aspirated V12 powertrain. For the first time in its history, the new flagship Revuelto and its ultra-limited Fenomeno relative come with a charging port. Rivals have struggled to manage this transition, but how about Lamborghini? evo speaks with Matteo Ortenzi, head of V12s to find out how it’s fared.
It’s not only customers and journalists that were concerned about Sant’Agata move to electrification, Lamborghini was too. Speaking about the leadup to the creation of the Revuelto, Ortenzi said: ‘In the beginning we were a bit scared, but then we said we don’t need to be the first just because everybody is doing a hybrid car. Instead, we made the step once the technology was ready to give more to our customers.’
> Lamborghini Fenomeno is an ultra-limited V12 special with Bugatti Veyron power
While they waited a whole four years to launch the Revuelto after Ferrari uncovered its own 1000bhp, plug-in hybrid supercar, the wait certainly hasn’t hurt its performance in the market. Ortenzi said ‘... the car was great at demonstrating that this is not a car that compromises emotion, but it’s giving more. The customers are not scared anymore.’
Not only does it happen to be one of the most thrilling new supercars to drive on the market, one glance at the used market makes it clear that Lamborghini’s doing something right. The Revuelto sold out immediately (for a limited time) and each and every example is still selling at over list price. The same can’t be said for some of its direct rivals, but why so?
Primarily, the naturally aspirated V12. Other manufacturers have had to make do with an unfortunate combination of downsized engines, forced induction and now, hybrid technology, but Lamborghini held off on all but the latter. As a result, it’s been able to maintain the character of its previous flagship cars, only extracting the performance benefits of hybrid drive in the process. Ortenzi said: ‘... because we combined this [hybrid tech] with a naturally aspirated V12, you can guarantee the emotion is there, we have our way and we know what we want to do there.’
Of course, given the Lamborghini customer base, there have been a good number that have specifically requested cars without hybrid assistance regardless, but Ortenzi said: ‘... now we are not receiving any more of these requests, because if you drive the car once you are convinced. These things spread to the customer base.’
Speaking about the future of the Revuelto and incoming derivatives, Ortenzi said that due to the relatively small size of the company and the huge amount of work involved in the Revuelto’s initial development: ‘... we have to do things step by step. We are convinced now that the best possible choice in this segment is what we did, so we are convinced we are fine, we don’t need to rush anything.’
It’s for this reason that Lamborghini’s new €3m Fenomeno special, featuring a derivative of the same plug-in hybrid V12 powertrain as the Revuelto, sold out before it was even launched – other manufacturers have not seen the same success. The firm's careful management of supply despite huge demand will likely play a significant role, with only 29 examples of this new special to hit the road.
Regardless of Lamborghini’s business acumen, it’s clear that natural aspiration still has its place...
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