Next Huracán To Feature A Hybrid Powertrain

[William Maley]

Lamborghini has been hesitant to move on from their naturally aspirated V10 and V12 engines to hybrid powertrains for their sports cars. 

“When they come to Lamborghini, they are asking for the power and performance of our naturally aspirated engines,” he said. “That’s why we have already decided that the next-generation V12 will stay naturally aspirated and it is one reason why the [Aventador] remains unique,” said Lamborghini's Commercial boss Federico Foschini a few months back to Autocar.

But Lamborghini is working on a hybrid powertrain for the successor to the Huracán. 

“The [next] Huracán – that car will need hybridisation. Hybridisation is the answer, not [full] electric,” said Lamborghini boss Stefano Domenicali.

Unlike the Urus, which will be the company's first plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Huracán's replacement brings a set of challenges. Packing a heavy hybrid powertrain into an SUV is no problem. Doing the same for a sports car is a big no-no. 

“It’s easier in our first plug-in hybrid, the Urus, because the ambition of the car in terms of packaging and weight is not so difficult. But this is one mission. It’s not the Lamborghini super-sports car mission," said Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's R&D head.

Reggiani added that current battery technology is not feasible for current supercars.

“The issue today is the storage of energy. If I go to a track, I need to run all the laps that I want. But today, the problem is that if you go, you are only able to run one and a half laps [flat out].”

Lamborghini's sister brand, Porsche has been investigating the use of lighter solid-state batteries which could solve this issues talked about by Reggiani. Lamborghini is also working with other industry experts to see if a solution can be figured out.

The Huracán's replacement is due out in 2022.

Source: Autocar

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[G. David Felt]

This totally makes sense considering the instant torque and superior power a Hybrid Powertrain can deliver in a sports car.

[smk4565]

I think a hybrid sports car makes a lot of sense.  As far as batteries and technology not being readable, I just watched a Formula 1 car do 70 laps of a track on Sunday and that is indeed a hybrid.

[Frisky Dingo]

Sad.

[oldshurst442]

Happiness!

I like the idea of hybridisation.

I am not ready for a full-on electric Lambo or Ferrari or even Porsche or Corvette, but I am on board for hybrids.

In hindsight, Im more saddened that the new Ford GT is NOT a hybrid rather than having an ecoboosted 6 cylinder as an engine. 

That is the reason why I prefer the new NSX over the GT.

Therefore...for me...this is awesome news!

[Frisky Dingo]

Lamborghini should be the absolute last to adopt this technology. Especially at the low end of their model range.

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Lamborghini should be the absolute last to adopt this technology. Especially at the low end of their model range.

I see where you are coming from.

I dont necessarily disagree with your point of view.

I just dont see the merits of a Huracan waiting to get a technology to get passed down to it from an Asterion to a future Egoista/Sesto Elemento/Veneno to the next generation Aventador and then FINALLY to the Huracan when this hybridisation is already happening in the Huracan's class today. OK...a class lower. The NSX is what I am talking about.

https://www.caranddriver.com/acura/nsx

Quote

 

The concept that won out is a rolling test bed for the future of performance technology. “You will not find a car in this category in 10 years that won’t have electrification. I’m confident on that,” Widmer says.

So are we. The NSX isn’t the first of its kind to mesh electrons and hydrocarbons in the pursuit of speed, but give Acura credit for so rapidly democratizing the technology. Even with a starting price of $157,800, the NSX is hard evidence of the kind of trickle-down economics that actually works. Sacrificing a fraction of the performance and the pure-electric driving capability of the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder netted Acura a $700,000 price cut for its mid-engined hero.

 

Widmer may have been talking about McLarens, Lambor­ghinis, and Ferraris when he made his 10-year prediction, but the electrification of performance won’t stop at supercars. Defying physics, the electrons are poised to flow into iconic performance cars where there’s even more resistance. Hybridized 911s and BMW M3s are an eventuality, not just a possibility. This NSX is a preview of things to come.

 

 

 

 

Long story short. Why prolong it?

Lamborghini maybe thinking about the NSX. Maybe not.

Then there is the next generation C8 Corvette. It may or may not be mid-engined in the supercar sense of it being  mid-engined...as in behind the driver...and the C8 Vette recently trademarked name of E-Ray may or may not be a hybrid electric variant  sold sometime in the early 2020s...

So...Lambo may or may not be thinking about a C8 Vette either.

But maybe Lambo wants to be ahead of the bell curve rather than just waiting to see which sports car will be next to get hybridised.

And I dont have a problem with that.

Full on electric though is where I might be reluctant to accept at 100%. Its fine for a sedan. Like a Tesla Model S or a personal project classic car going  full-on EV...but to lose a V12/V10 Ferrari or Lamborghini (and even V8 pony cars) so early in the EV age (if we could even say 2017 is the dawn of an EV age to begin with) is...not acceptable!

Edited November 2, 2017 by oldshurst442