The life of the internal combustion engine is longer than expected, says Lamborghini head.
Lamborghini will fully electrify its line-up this year – the Urus and Revuelto are already plug-in hybrids, and the Huracan successor will debut with a new V8 PHEV powertrain this August.
And while electric vehicles are also on the cards by the end of this decade, combustion engines are very much still at the core of Lamborghini’s DNA. This is evident from the slew of derivatives such as the Huracan Sterrato and STO, and the Urus Performante and S, that were introduced as a celebration of its ICE vehicles before they are electrified. Keeping with that essence then, does synthetic fuel hold any prospect at Lamborghini?
Scope of synthetic fuels at Lamborghini
Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, in a previous interview with Autocar India, had suggested that synthetic fuels are “an opportunity” for use in racing activities like the one-make Super Trofeo series. However, when it comes to regular production models, Winkelmann only said, “We will have to wait and see.”
In a recent interaction with our sister publication Autocar Professional in Beijing however, Winkelmann dropped a more concrete statement on the use of synthetic fuel in its regular production cars. He said, “We want two sports cars that can run on synthetic fuels after the end of this decade with hybrid engines, and for daily usable cars – electrification is the right approach.”
Winkelmann accepts that the path towards a fully electric future will take much longer than expected. The acceptance of EVs is much slower than anticipated, and hence, Lamborghini is developing things in parallel.
One technology to meet all legislations worldwide
Given that the pace of electrification adoption will vary from developing to developed markets, for a car manufacturer like Lamborghini, which makes one type of car for the entire globe, circumventing several different legislations regarding emissions throws up a significant challenge.
Winkelmann says Lamborghini “will not regionalise the product.” He is hoping that there is a role of CO2-neutral synthetic fuels in the future to have a meaningful impact on the environment. “For a small manufacturer like ours, synthetic fuel or CO2-neutral fuel will be important for a longer life for ICE. Nobody will abandon the EV strategy, but the life of internal combustion engines is longer than they expected a couple of years ago,” he added.
All this, however, will depend on whether synthetic fuels will receive widespread government approval and whether they can be produced at scale.
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