Lamborghini sets sights on EV sports car

Lamborghini is open to the idea of an all-electric addition to its line-up of luxury sports cars, according to chief executive, Stefano Domenicali.

The Italian car maker has already deviated from its tradition of producing high-powered, low-slung sportscars with its new SUV, called Urus.

The SUV will be launched at the company’s headquarters towards the end of this year, with deliveries starting in the second half of 2018.

“Electrification is an area of great attention for us, but I’m not expecting it will happen in the short term,” Domenicali told Reuters

at the Geneva car show, ruling out an EV powered Lamborghini before 2025.

“We need to be realistic,” he says, pointing to the need to preserve the characteristics of a supercar in terms of handling, weight and performance even in an electric model.

Cost and investment in the right technologies are also factors, he says.

He also held out the prospect of another record year for Lamborghini in 2017, powered by undiminished demand for super-luxury cars in the US, China and Europe.

The company was showing its new Huracan Performante in Geneva ahead of first deliveries in June. “The level of pre-orders is already looking good,” Domenicali says.

Domenicali says he expects sales this year to increase by a single-digit percentage rate from last year’s record 3457 deliveries.

Future shipments for sports cars would be capped at around 3500 a year but could go slightly higher as the market expands to a maximum of 3800, although the Urus SUV could double overall production volumes.

Depending on demand, the Urus could add at least another 3500 vehicles to Lamborghini’s total output.