Icons of Italian automotive style struggle to go electric

SANT’AGATA BOLOGNESE, Italy – The boys pouring out of a high school in an Italian village fell silent as the Lamborghini approached, the 12-cylinder engine throbbing its presence. Then, when the wedge-shaped monster rumbled across the schoolyard, they burst into cheers, fists, and leaps into the air.

It’s a spontaneous expression of the emotion the Italian sports car maker inspires, and that drives those who can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some cases millions. dollars, to get one.

But Lamborghini, Ferrari and several other companies that make so-called supercars – a loosely defined class of vehicles that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and offer racing-grade performance – face a challenge. existential threats. The auto industry is transitioning to battery power, a trend these automakers cannot escape. Now, they are grappling with how to design electric sports cars that spark the same passion and at the same price point.

Tesla challenged Ferrari and Lamborghini’s claims of being at the forefront of automotive design. Tesla has pioneered electric vehicles, and its Model S Plaid can accelerate to 60 mph in just over two seconds, faster than any Ferrari or Lamborghini, according to testers at Motorcycle trend.

“For supercar manufacturers, the question is, can they become the world leader in electrification?” Karl-Thomas Neumann, former chief executive officer of German automaker Opel, who sits on the board of OneD Battery Sciences, a California supplier of technology for electric cars.

“If you’re just building a supercar and putting the Ferrari logo on it, it’s not enough,” Neumann said. And the company was “very late” to the electric car game, he added.

Ferrari has offered a plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Stradale, since 2019 but won’t announce an all-electric vehicle until 2025. The Maranello, Italy-based company has elaborated on its plans. at an investor event this month, said it would build its own electric motor and other key components, in keeping with its tradition of craftsmanship and exclusivity.

“An electric Ferrari would be a real Ferrari,” said Benedetto Vigna, chief executive officer, in an interview ahead of the rollout.

Ferrari also said that, in keeping with tradition, it will borrow technology from its formidable team. But the company does not compete in E . formula, the answer to Formula 1 for electric cars. Mr Vigna declined to say if there were any plans to do so.

Lamborghini, owned by Volkswagen and based in the village of Sant’Agata Bolognese, will offer its first plug-in hybrid in 2023 and an all-electric car in the second half of this decade.

The mystery of Italian supercars is deeply intertwined with the sound and power of the internal combustion engine. The famous Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan is said to have once said that Ferrari’s 12-cylinder engine achieves “a harmony no other conductor can play”.

The electric motor is inherently good.

“Audio is a key asset for these vehicles,” said Andy Palmer, former Aston Martin executive and now chief executive officer of Switch Mobility, an electric bus manufacturer. “Will the sports car as we know it continue to exist if you can’t tell the difference based on sound?”

This question is of interest to more people than just a few wealthy people. The pride and prestige of Italians is at stake.

While much of the rest of the Italian auto industry is largely out of date – Fiat’s market share in Europe has dropped to just 4% – supercar enthusiasts often spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars. Ferraris and Lamborghinis and usually waits a year for delivery. The most exclusive models have price tags in the millions.

The two brands represent Italy’s industrial strength, which is often overshadowed by political dysfunction.

Ferrari and Lamborghini are also very profitable. Ferrari, which is traded on the stock exchange but controlled by the powerful Italian Agnelli family, has reported a net profit 240 million euros, or $250 million, for the first three months of 2022 with sales of $1.2 billion.

Lamborghini contributed €180 million of pre-tax profit to Volkswagen’s pre-tax profit in the first quarter with sales of €592 million. Last year Ferrari sold 11,000 cars, while Lamborghini sold 8,300. The two companies’ double-digit margins on sales are unusually high for the auto industry, which has notoriously thin profit margins.

The change is evident in the area near Bologna, the countryside famously known as the Motor Valley. Ferrari and Lamborghini are half an hour’s drive apart.

Last year Ferrari broke with tradition by appointing Vigna chief executive officer. Despite being an auto enthusiast, at the age of 14 he sneaked out of his house for a few days to attend a Formula 1 race, but Mr Vigna had never worked at an auto company. Previously, he served as a senior executive at STMicroelectronics, a semiconductor manufacturer. His appointment signals the importance of electronics to Ferrari’s future.

“We need a CEO who has a deep understanding of the technologies that are changing not only the auto industry but the wider world,” John Elkann, president of Agnelli and Ferrari, told analysts. invest this month.

Mr. Vigna, whose clients at STM include Apple and Tesla, bring Ferrari deep connections from the world of technology. “If I needed some contact with a potential partner or supplier, it would be easier for me to reach the right person,” he said.

The move to batteries presents Ferrari and Lamborghini with a number of challenges. One feature of the supercar is its extremely low profile, which reduces wind resistance. The roof is only waist high. The same silhouette is a challenge to achieve with the battery, which is usually located under the passenger compartment.

Another characteristic is exclusivity. Buyers could easily wait a year for delivery. Cars are collector’s items that often increase in value over time. Classic Ferrari was sold for more than 20 million dollars.

But does a Ferrari still feel exclusive when a Tesla is faster? Mr. Vigna argues that a difference of a few hundredths of a second in acceleration from 0 to 60 is not the be-all and end-all. He likens driving a Ferrari to riding a roller coaster. It is not so much speed as it feels.

“Ferrari is experience,” he said.

Electric vehicles are known for their smooth and quiet acceleration. That’s not what a Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari SF90 Spider buyer pays upwards of $500,000. They want a feeling of raw power.

A Lamborghini driver sits a few inches off the road in a low-rise cockpit, aware of every imperfection in the road. The massive engine right behind the seats, rumbling in the passenger’s ears. The steering is precise but rigid, requiring intense concentration. It’s a total sensory experience that makes a round of traffic in an Italian village like a tight turn at the Monaco Grand Prix.

“The car gives you the feeling of being a driver, a hero,” said Rouven Mohr, Chief Technology Officer of Lamborghini. Recreating that feeling in an electric car, he said, “was our main mission.”

Batteries offer a number of advantages for supercar designers. Electric vehicles do not need long drive shafts and bulky gearboxes. Electric motors are much smaller than internal combustion engines. Components can be arranged to optimize weight distribution and handling.

Each wheel can have its own electric motor and is programmed to operate at slightly different speeds to maximize cornering handling. Lamborghini is considering equipping cars with artificial intelligence to learn the driver’s preferences and driving style, and tailor handling and performance accordingly.

“The car understands what you want,” Mr. Mohr said.

So far, the customer dedicated to the supercar is not an electric vehicle. “Nobody gives them something and they say, ‘Oh, this is cooler than my current internal combustion engine car,'” Mr Mohr said.

Other companies are trying, although so far they are producing electric supercars in very small quantities. Rimac Automobili, a Croatian company whose investors include Porsche, Hyundai and the private unit of Goldman Sachs, revealed Neveraan electric sports car that the company claims can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than two seconds.

Lotus Cars, a British manufacturer controlled by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, sells an electric car, Evija. That and Nevera has a price tag above $2 million. Lotus, with other models priced much less than Ferrari or Lamborghini, says it will only sell electric cars starting in 2028. (The fact is that Lotus already supplies key components for the production model. Tesla’s first, Roadster).

Other competitors are moving at a similar pace. In the UK, Aston Martin plans to offer its first all-electric car by 2025. McLaren, also British, is expected to offer a battery-only model until 2028 .

Ferrari and Lamborghini have no intention of stopping making cars with internal combustion engines. But they are under increasing pressure from regulators to cut fuel consumption, especially in Europe. A two-seat Lamborghini Aventador coupe has an average fuel consumption of 11 kilometers, or half the fuel economy of a full-size pickup truck, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental protection. (Enthusiasts argue that most people only drive their supercars a few thousand miles a year, so fuel consumption is low.)

Wealthy young buyers may not want to be seen on a luxury car.

“We are getting younger customers every day,” said Stephan Winkelmann, chief executive officer of Lamborghini. They want performance, he said, but also “reassurance.”