The Lamborghini Lanzador EV concept from 2023 is going to spawn a production variant that’s a lot more powerful than we originally thought. According to Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume, the first all-electric Lambo will boast up to 2,000 horsepower thanks to a new, high-performance electric platform. If that’s true, the Lanzador (or whatever it ends up being called) will be more powerful than the 1,914-hp Rimac Nevera EV or 1,775-hp Bugatti Tourbillon plug-in hybrid, and with all that power available in instantaneous electric fashion, we suspect the Lamborghini will be terrifyingly quick. Perfect.
Lamborghini
- Founded
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1963
- Founder
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Ferruccio Lamborghini
- Headquarters
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SantÁgata Bolognese
- Owned By
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Audi
- Current CEO
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Stephan Winkelmann
High Voltage Leads To High Performance
Blume, speaking to Autocar, confirmed that the Lanzador would use a version of an all-electric architecture that’s being designed in-house at Volkswagen Group, with Porsche leading much of the development. The new platform boasts a 980-volt electrical system, a useful upgrade over both the 400V systems used by Volkswagen’s MEB-platform cars and the 800V Premium Platform Electric machines. The new 980V architecture even eclipses Porsche’s existing electric flagship, the Taycan, which is limited to 800 volts.
The more robust electrical system will enable the Lanzador’s electric motors to draw from the battery more efficiently, enabling higher power outputs without a commensurate increase in energy consumption or heat generation. The system also works in reverse – when the car is coasting or slowing down, the electric motors can feed more electricity to the battery through regenerative braking without negatively affecting the health of the cells. To our knowledge, the Lanzador’s platform will be the first to offer a 980V electrical system, though the Lucid Air runs on 900 volts, as do some Chinese automakers’ offerings.
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The Porsche Platform Will Show Up At Other VW Brands
In addition to the Lamborghini, that Porsche-designed BEV architecture will likely serve under the skin of the next-generation Taycan and may even form the basis of an all-electric supercar from the Stuttgart brand. But it will also be used in other premium Volkswagen Group offerings, including Bentley and Audi. Blume wouldn’t admit precisely which vehicles would use the 980V electric architecture, but given the Lanzador’s predicted $300,000 price point, we doubt it will be a mass-market platform. Bentley could therefore use it for a range-topping sedan or SUV, while Audi might use it to build a next-generation R8 EV.
The Lanzador concept featured two electric motors, and at the time of its debut, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said it would produce one megawatt of power, or 1,341 hp. Given the astronomical rise in output from that earlier estimate, the first Lambo EV might instead make use of three or four electric motors. That layout would not only improve the Lanzador’s straight-line performance, it would also make for incredibly precise torque vectoring, something the company’s Revuelto plug-in hybrid can attest to. With an e-motor assigned to each front wheel and a third between the engine and transmission, the V12 supercar can apply power or regeneration to each unit, making for improved battery performance and incredible stability.
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We hope the Lanzador’s production-ready followup will follow suit. Although its high-riding, four-seat coupe layout may diverge from the supercar formula quite a bit, 2,000 infinitely controllable horses should still make for a delightful driving experience at speed. And although the production car has been delayed until 2029 or so, the automaker isn’t backing down from its EV goals. With that much power at stake, why would it?
Source: Autocar
