Electric cars don’t offer ‘consistent performance’: Lamborghini executive

Italian supercar specialist Lamborghini says it is waiting before going all-in on electric cars until they no longer require compromising on "handling and consistent performance".

Francesco Scardaoni, Regional Director of Lamborghini in Asia Pacific, said the "heavy weight of the battery" in the current generation of electric cars means they are not suited to the "super sport cars" the company is known for.

Lamborghini is developing an electric car – due in 2028 – but it is a four-seat 'grand touring' car not intended for race-track driving.

"Right now if you drive a pure electric car on the race track [the] performance is not consistent, meaning you do two, three laps and either the car overheats or it starts to lose performance," Mr Scardaoni told media at a Melbourne event for the launch of the Revuelto hybrid supercar.

"As of today that's the reason we didn't want to go pure electric on super sport cars because it doesn't fit the requirements of our customers and Lamborghini as a company listens to what our customers are asking us."

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The Lamborghini executive claims the brand has maintained it doesn't want to be the first in electrifying cars, "but we wanted to be the best".

"Every day is one day more of research and development, understanding customer needs in terms of pure electric cars," he said.

This year, the Italian company debuted its first plug-in hybrid model with the V12-powered Revuelto, with a plug-in hybrid Urus SUV, and the plug-in hybrid successor to the Huracan supercar to follow in 2024.

In August 2023, Lamborghini unveiled the Lanzador concept – a high-riding, two-door, four-seat 'Ultra GT' that will serve as the brand's first electric car when it enters production in 2028.

"We decided to go first with the Lanzador, [which is] more an ultra GT style, not a super sport car. [In] the future ... powertrains will allow super sport car manufacturers to have the right performances, weight, handling," Mr Scardaoni.

Lamborghini aims for its hybridisation strategy to allow the company to reduce its overall CO2 output of 50 per cent by the end of 2025.

The company's Sant'Agata factory is already said to be carbon-neutral.