The Raging Bull is waving the checkered flag on combustion engines.
If you missed out on grabbing one of Lamborghini’s last pure gas-powered V-12s last year, chances are it won’t get any easier in the future. The Italian marque is set to make the complete switch to plug-in hybrid models after 2022, as part of its nearly $2 billion investment in electrification.
“It will be the last time that we only offer combustion engines,” president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Lamborghini’s “Cor Tauri” blueprint for an electrified future was first announced last May when Winkelmann said the automaker had shelled out $1.8 billion to debut its first all-electric car before 2030. The three-phase plan would cut in half the company’s carbon emissions by 2025, the CEO said.
The Aventador will be replaced with a plug-in hybrid edition for the 2024 model year. Photo by Lean Design GmbH, courtesy of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.
The shift to electric comes amid a record sales year for the marque. The automaker delivered 8,405 luxury cars worldwide in 2021, up 13 percent year on year. So far this year, that demand has not abated: Winkelmann said that Lamborghini has nearly sold out its entire production line. However, the CEO knows that, to maintain that level of success, electrification will be essential. “There’s a new generation of customers which would not otherwise sit at your table any more,” he told Car magazine last week.
As for what an all-electric Lambo will look like, the CEO said that the company is still trying to work out some of the kinks in the final design. But don’t expect a track monster. Rather, the first Raging Bull EV will be a four-door grand tourer that can be used as a daily driver, according to the Cor Tauri plan.
Of course, gas-powered Lamborghinis won’t disappear overnight. Indeed, the marque will debut new Huracán and Urus models (two of each) this year. And it will release a follow-up to the Aventador in 2023, which will be the first plug-in hybrid to come with a new V-12 engine.
Still, one thing is clear: The days of roaring combustion-engine Raging Bulls are numbered.
