Why Lamborghini's first EV 'perfectly matches the DNA' of the brand
Italian exotic carmaker Lamborghini made a splash at this year’s Monterey Car Week, debuting its first-ever EV, years ahead of schedule.
Video Transcript
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Lamborghini making some waves with their Lanzador EV. Joining me now Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Lamborghini. So Stephan for years and years I have bothered you about the EV. I want to hear more details, all that stuff. It's finally here. Give me some of the big highlights from your point of view for this car.
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: First of all, it's the body style and the concept itself. No, it's a 2 plus 2. It's a two-door car. So it's a GT, but with the higher seating position and the higher ground clearance. And this is for us the best out of two worlds, first of all.
Then if we speak about the design, it has a typical step forward design, which for Lamborghini is something which we see always in our super sports cars. It has the signature line, which is going from the front until the end. And on top of that, we have the squared greenhouse, which is unmistakably a Lamborghini.
In terms of the technology is a bit early to speak about now. But something which is coming to market in 2028. But we are working on torque vectoring. We are working on active aerodynamics. And we were at least have one megawatt as power output when this car comes to market.
And this is a bit what is all about. We are here also to prove that we are ready to go also electric. This will be the first one. It's an additional car, so it's a first model of Lamborghini.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So as you know, it's going to come out. I think in the '28 model year is that's sort of the goal, I guess, you can correct me if I'm wrong. But you mention that megawatt of power, almost 1,000 horsepower, dual motor here. I was surprised to see-- and I thought it would be a sedan, but I guess it's a more of a sport activity type of vehicle. Is that what clients want these days?
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: And you know, when you are in a super sports car company like Lamborghini, you have to see what is missing in the lineup. So with two super sports cars and one-- and one SUV, one super sports car SUV, it's important for us to have what we were doing over decades now with GT cars. And this is what is missing. And I think this is perfectly matching with the DNA of Lamborghini.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: They were seeing a lot of cars running over, like, it's the DNA is working for these little kids here. But this is part of the raison coltare, right, is the EV strategy plan that Lamborghini has. We're going to start seeing the Urus hybridize as well. We just saw the reveal of the Revuelto super sport or super car hybrid, that just started sales. How was that going? How's it respond there?
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: Man, Revuelto has an incredible response. Now we call it high performance electric vehicle. It's the first car of the year. It's called cut-out, strategy of hybridisation first and then electrification. And it's overwhelming, the success. So the fact that we are going to get hybrid with all the lineup by the end of 2024 is very digested by everybody. And this car is almost sold out until 2026, so it's very important to say so. And this means that the reception is outstanding.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I forgot to ask, are you guys taking orders on this car yet?
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: No, no, this is a concept car. We will do some clinics, we will do some testing, and we will talk a lot about electrification in the years to come to get ready for 2028.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And you said the customer response is pretty strong for a vehicle like this.
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: Yes. Because now it's a bit too early because it's a couple of hours that we unveiled the car, but so far, the response is really incredible.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I wanted to ask you also about from my point of view, Lamborghini is first-- not to market, but first to reveal their fully electric EV. I know it's a concept. Your other rivals, Ferrari, Aston Martin, et cetera have not shown that car. How important is it for Lamborghini to be first right now to show this market that you're serious about EVs?
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: It's not important to be first to show. It's important to have a clear vision of what you're going to do in the next years. So for us, this is a journey which is starting today. It started already years ago with the announcement of the [INAUDIBLE]. But here we are coming into a field where it's important to show what electric cars are able to do. And this is something which we have to build up until the car is coming in '28.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I know I've asked you this before, you guys have a dual strategy where you're hybridizing a lot of the lineup and then eventually maybe going electric with all of it in the past 2030. I know the governments aren't saying that. But do you think there's a world where the hybrids and the gas powered cars stay on longer than we think because of the fact that the world is not ready to change to fully electric just quite yet.
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: But this is on one hand side in the hands of the legislator because we have now a clear mission to accomplish. And we have to do it despite what is going to happen from the legislator. For us, it's important that we continue to build dream cars.
Our idea hybridize the full lineup, as you said, and then go full electric with this first model and with reduce for the super sports cars. There might be an opportunity with synthetic fuels to reduce emissions in a way that it's going to work out also after 2030. It's not a decision we have to take now, so we have enough time to see what is going to happen.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So last question here. We're at the Quail, a very popular event for clients. How important it is for Lamborghini to be here and also to reveal the Lanzador at this event?
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: The US is our market number one by far. This Monterey Car Week is the most important event in the year in America. And the Quail is the most important one amongst or inside this week. So to unveil a car is good not only for the press, but because we have a lot of fans of the brand, but also a lot of customers.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Stefan, congratulations, a big day for the company. The Lanzador is here. Thank you so much for joining us.
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: My pleasure. Thank you.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: We appreciate it.
STEPHAN WINKELMANN: Thank you.
