Santa Garta Bolognese, Italy — As Lamborghini approached, boys spilled from an elementary school in an Italian village were silenced, and their thirsty 12-cylinder engine overwhelmed their existence. Then, as the wedge-shaped beasts rang in the school playground, they cheered, pumped their fists and jumped into the air.
It was a spontaneous expression of emotions inspired by Italian sports car makers and motivated by those who could afford it to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases millions of dollars.
But Lamborghini, Ferrari, and a few other companies that make so-called supercars, a roughly defined category of vehicles that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and offer race-car-level performance, are a threat that exists. Facing The auto industry is relentlessly moving to battery power, which these car makers tend to be unable to escape. They are now working on how to design an electric sports car that inspires the same passion and orders the same price.
Tesla has already challenged Ferrari and Lamborghini’s claim that they are at the forefront of automotive design. Tesla is a pioneer in electric vehicles, and its Model S plaid is faster than Ferrari and Lamborghini and can accelerate up to 60 mph in just over two seconds. Motor trend..
“For supercar makers, the question is whether they can be the world’s leading supercars in electrification.” German car maker Opel, a board member of OneD Battery Sciences, a supplier of electric vehicle technology in California. Karl-Thomas Neumann, former Chief Executive Officer of the company, said.
“If you just make a supercar and put the Ferrari logo on it, that’s not enough,” Neumann said. And the company is “very late” to the electric car game, he added.
Ferrari has been offering a plug-in hybrid Stradale since 2019, but will not announce a fully electric vehicle until 2025. Based in Maranello, Italy, the company elaborated on its plans at this month’s investor event. In keeping with the tradition of craftsmanship and exclusivity, we build electric motors and other key components themselves.
“Electric Ferrari will be a true Ferrari,” CEO Benedetto Vina said in an interview before the presentation.
Ferrari also said it would borrow technology from its formidable racing team in line with tradition. However, the company is not competing with Formula E, the answer to Formula 1 for electric vehicles. Vina didn’t say if she had any plans to do so.
Volkswagen-owned and based in the village of Santa Garta Bolognese, Lamborghini will offer the first plug-in hybrid vehicle in 2023 and a fully electric vehicle in the second half of 2010.
An important year for electric vehicles
The popularity of battery-powered vehicles is skyrocketing around the world as the entire automotive market stagnates.
The mystery of Italian supercars is deeply intertwined with the sound and power of internal combustion engines. Famous Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan was once thought to have said that Ferrari’s 12-cylinder engine achieved “a harmony that the Maestro couldn’t play.”
The electric motor is essentially a sotovoce.
“Sound is an important asset for these vehicles,” said Andy Palmer, former CEO of Aston Martin and now CEO of Switch Mobility, a manufacturer of electric buses. “Does the sports car we know continue to exist even if it is indistinguishable by sound?”
This question is of interest to more than a few wealthy people. Italy’s pride and fame are at stake.
Much of the rest of the Italian car industry has become almost irrelevant — Fiat’s market share in Europe has fallen to just 4% — supercar enthusiasts routinely spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for Ferrari and Lamborghini. Pay out and often wait a year for delivery. The most exclusive models have millions of price tags.
The two brands represent Italy’s industrial strength, which is often overshadowed by political dysfunction.
Ferrari and Lamborghini are also very beneficial. Ferrari, which is traded on the stock exchange but is dominated by the powerful Agnelli family in Italy, Net income In the first three months of 2022, sales of $ 1.2 billion were worth € 240 million, or $ 250 million.
Lamborghini generated € 180 million in pre-tax profit on Volkswagen’s revenue with first-quarter sales of € 592 million. Last year, Ferrari sold 11,000 units and Lamborghini sold 8,300 units. The double-digit sales of both companies are unusually high for the automobile industry, which is famous for its low profit margin.
The change is evident in the area near Bologna, a rugged countryside known as the Motor Valley. Ferrari and Lamborghini are a 30-minute drive away.
Last year, Ferrari broke the tradition when it appointed Mr. Vina as Chief Executive Officer. He’s a car enthusiast who sneaked away from home for a few days to take part in an F1 race at the age of 14, but Vina had never worked for a car company. He was previously a senior executive at semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics. His appointment demonstrated the importance of electronic devices for Ferrari’s future.
“We needed a CEO who had a deep understanding of the technology that is changing the wider world, not just the automotive industry,” John Elkann, a descendant of the Agnelli family and chairman of Ferrari, told investors this month.
Vigna, whose STM customers included Apple and Tesla, brings Ferrari a deep connection from the world of technology. “If you need to reach out to potential partners or suppliers, you can easily reach out to the right level of people,” he said.
The move to batteries poses some challenges for Ferrari and Lamborghini. One of the features of supercars is that they are extremely thin and reduce wind resistance. The roof of the car is barely waist high. The same silhouette is usually difficult to achieve with the battery underneath the cabin.
Another feature is monopoly. Buyers can easily wait a year for delivery. Cars are collector’s items and often increase in value over time. Vintage Ferrari It sells for over $ 20 million.
But when Tesla is fast, do you still feel Ferrari exclusive? Vigna argued that the difference of hundreds of seconds of acceleration from 0 to 60 is not all, not all. He compared driving a Ferrari to riding a roller coaster. It’s not as fast as it feels.
“Ferrari is an experience,” he said.
Electric vehicles are known for their smooth acceleration and quiet ride. It’s not what Lamborghini Aventador and Ferrari SF90 Spider buyers pay more than $ 500,000. They want a sense of raw power.
Lamborghini drivers sit in the lower cockpit, a few centimeters away from the road, and are aware of any flaws in the pavement. A huge engine is right behind the seat and echoes in the passengers’ ears. The steering is accurate but stiff and requires concentration. Making the roundabout of an Italian village feel like a tight curve at the Monaco Grand Prix is a comprehensive sensory experience.
Lamborghini’s Chief Technology Officer, Ruben Mall, said: Recreating that feeling in an electric car is “our main task,” he said.
Batteries offer some benefits to supercar designers. Electric vehicles do not require long drive shafts or bulky transmissions. Electric motors are much smaller than internal combustion engines. Components can be placed to optimize weight distribution and handling.
Each wheel has its own electric motor and can be programmed to operate at slightly different speeds to maximize handling around the curve. Lamborghini is considering equipping cars with artificial intelligence to learn driver preferences and driving styles and adjust handling and performance accordingly.
“The car understands what you want,” Mole said.
So far, the exclusive customers of supercars are not looking for electric cars. “Oh, no one has provided them with anything they say,” oh, this is even cooler than my current internal combustion engine car, “Mole said.
Other companies have produced very few electric supercars so far, but are trying.Rimac Automobili, a Croatian company invested in private equity units of Porsche, Hyundai and Goldman Sachs NebellaThe company claims that the electric sports car can accelerate from 0 mph to 60 mph in less than 2 seconds.
Lotus Cars, a British manufacturer managed by Geely Holding Group of China, sells electric models. Evaya.. And Nevers has a price tag well over $ 2 million. Lotus, whose prices on other models are much cheaper than Ferrari and Lamborghini, say it will only sell electric cars from 2028 (interesting fact: Lotus will supply key components to Tesla’s first production model, the Roadster. Did).
Other close competitors are moving at about the same speed. In the UK, Aston Martin will offer the first all-electric vehicle in 2025. Similarly, McLaren in the UK has no plans to offer a battery-powered model until 2028.
Ferrari and Lamborghini have no plans to discontinue the production of vehicles with internal combustion engines. But especially in Europe, there is increasing pressure from regulators to reduce fuel consumption. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the two-seater Lamborghini Aventador Coupe averages 11 miles to a gallon, half the fuel consumption of a full-sized pickup truck. (Lovers claim that fuel consumption is low because most people drive supercars only a few thousand miles a year.)
Wealthy young buyers may not want to be seen in a very luxurious car.
Lamborghini Chief Executive Officer Stephen Winkelman said: He said they weren’t just looking for performance, they were also looking for “security.”
