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Lamborghini gears up to make hybrids, no kidding!
Hot on the heels of Lamborghini's Estoque family sedan, the Italian manufacturer has made another bid to become the Toyota of supercars, by letting slip that they plan to start building hybrids by 2015. CEO Stephan Winkelmann told the German magazine Automobilewoche that much like the Toyota Prius, the Hybrid Gallardo's electric motor will power the car around town, before switching over to a V-10 or V-12 motor on the open road.
The problem is that this ignores the main reason people buy Lambos in the first place. Blasting down the Autobahn at 200 mph is fine, but let's be honest. All most owners really want to do is to drive to some trendy hotspot, then blip the throttle to attract attention with that wailing V-10. If all you get is the whine of a puny electric motor, you aren't going to impress anyone but the local tree hugger hippie chick.
I guess this is what happens when a bunch of prosaic Germans (Lamborghini is owned by Audi) take over a hot blooded Italian supercar company. Ferruccio Lamborghini is probably spinning in his grave.
CarAdvice.com.au, via Treehugger.com
By ... at 4:24 PM ON 08/08/09
dumb
By Kithian at 5:36 PM ON 08/08/09
Well I think it's a good idea, because most people just want it to get chicks anyhow, also you yourself said on the open road it goes back to being a monster v10 to v12 so the autobahn and such will be the car that you wanted anyhow, and in city it uses the electric motor...or are you saying you rather just being a monster all the time because you like to street race in the city and more often then not kill someone with your foolish driving?
You can always not buy this line of lambo...it's catered to other people and not just your ridged narrow mindedness.
Hmmm...you must be american.
And i think he wouldn't be spinning in his grave or did you mean from your article...yeah i guess he would be reading your half baked ass article.
By Doobit at 5:41 PM ON 08/08/09
I would be open to beta test one.
By Tyler325 at 11:02 PM ON 08/08/09
i like all lambos i would rather take a hybrid and im an american were not all bad
By Jon at 12:10 AM ON 08/09/09
Unlikely, Ferruccio Lamborghini made his fortune building tractors and air conditioners.
The story goes he only started building cars because Enzo Ferrari called him a peasant when he complained about the build quality of his Ferrari.
True story or not, this was not a man with pretensions.
By i like e at 4:10 AM ON 08/09/09
"Hmmm...you must be american."
It's better than being ignorant.
By haha at 9:50 AM ON 08/09/09
""Hmmm...you must be american."
It's better than being ignorant."
Not the same thing? :P
I kid, but honestly, his comment was much more rational and reasonable than whoever wrote that article.
By TheSHAD0W at 1:41 PM ON 08/09/09
I'd rather see them working on an all-electric vehicle. I'd be very interested in seeing what they come up with. Electric motors can generate so much torque that there's the potential to beat anything gasoline powered.
By GermanCrazyGoat at 11:10 PM ON 08/09/09
I heard that someone is trying to build a rocket car thats meant to beat the world land speed record and its not even going to use a single drop of gasoline. So if thay do beat the world land speed record then it totally proves your point TheSHAD0W that electric motors are better (i agree; they generate zero pollution and electricity is cheaper than gasoline)
By skythra at 11:59 PM ON 08/09/09
Electric engines are fast. Its just the range, we don't have good batteries so we load them up with many heavy batteries and lose that power to weight ratio. Not to mention the pollution in creating the batteries nullifies the beneifit of electricity, it just moves the fumes out of the streets and into the manufacturer, or the power station.
By GermanCrazyGoat at 12:19 AM ON 08/10/09
So in a sense theres a trade off with that... in the atmosphere or in the manufacturer (i vote manufacturer)
By Mihos at 7:46 AM ON 08/10/09
Not interested. If I could afford a lambo, it sure as hell wuoldn't be the hippy version.
By Jsams4131 at 8:52 AM ON 08/10/09
@German Crazy
"I heard that someone is trying to build a rocket car thats meant to beat the world land speed record and its not even going to use a single drop of gasoline"
ROCKETs do not use gasoline to begin. more often than not its a solidified combustible mixture of propellants.
Yes electric motors have a lot of torque but you can only apply that torque until the motor can turn higher rpms any longer.
I will bet that an electric car won't be touching the current land speed record.(which fyi is over 600mph), for a long time
but about the article:
bad idea for lambo, They are simply jumping on the greenwashing bandwagon in hopes to attract another consumer base with deep pockets. if you have a lambo....would you want it to be dead silent in the city? I wouldn't...you paid that much money for a car that is built to be loud, obnoxious and fast...I would never want a lambo anyways but I'm just saying...not a lot goes into peoples thinking
By galaxyranger at 12:06 PM ON 08/10/09
Who ever wrote this article must not be aware of Tesla Motors and their high performance sport cars.
By Josh at 6:50 PM ON 08/10/09
its a lambo for god sake people do not go out and spend 450,000 (AUS) to drive a little piss weak electrical car if you do want however to drive an electric car THAN BUY THE TOYOTA this is not what lambos were designed for
By Dooms at 8:38 PM ON 08/10/09
@Josh: If you think electric car = piss weak, you are in for a treat when you see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp_jwE0KdOk&feature=related
Search for "electric car White Zombie" if you want to see more.
By Jen6238 at 10:32 AM ON 08/15/09
Instant torque to max put in a speaker if ya need the noise!! I would like to see the 0-100 numbers when this is built.(4 sec Or less)
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Jen6238:
Instant torque to max put in a speaker if ya need the noise!! I would like to see the 0-100 numbers when this is bu...More »