Ten years ago, the then-“holy trinity” of supercars kicked off a new era of performance by showing the world that electrification wasn’t just for drivers looking to stretch a mile. That year, Ferrari, Porsche, and McLaren debuted limited-run hybrids that informed what would soon come to pass for each brand, with all three embracing electrons for the powertrains of at least one of their production vehicles.
Lamborghini’s name has been mostly absent from the discussion of hybrid supercars, and while the company teased us with electrified possibilities over the years, it was happy to let its V10 and V12 engines do all the talking. Now, the V10s are screaming off into the sunset, and Lamborghini is on the precipice of a new electrified future, one that begins with the Revuelto, the replacement for the V12 Aventador and the brand’s first production plug-in hybrid.
During the 2023 New York International Auto Show, Ars had a chance to check out the Revuelto up close and to speak to Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr about the car’s development, its challenges, and what to expect from Lamborghini in the future.
Lamborghini’s rivals have opted for downsized turbocharged V6s for their plug-in hybrids; that wasn’t the plan in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
Lamborghini’s rivals have opted for downsized turbocharged V6s for their plug-in hybrids; that wasn’t the plan in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
The Revuelto is a clean-sheet follow-up to the long-running Aventador, and it sits atop Lamborghini’s lineup. In its final incarnation, the Aventador is powered by a 6.5 L V12 engine that delivers up to 770 hp (574 kW). The Revuelto succeeds it with an all-new V12 that is lighter and more powerful than the Aventador’s power plant.
Independently, the new naturally aspirated 6.5 L engine generates 814 hp (607 kW). This is married to the hybrid system, which is composed of a 3.8 kWh battery and three electric motors. Two motors sit on the front axle, while a third is tucked away within the Revuelto’s new 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. All told, the Revuelto drops 1,001 hp (746 kW) and around 783 lb-ft (1,061 Nm) to all four wheels.
Right away, Lamborghini makes it clear that the V12 remains the focal point of the flagship hypercar. Rather than doing more with less as other performance car developers have done, the electrification is in place to enhance the V12 and the car’s already substantial capabilities. “We wanted to preserve and even improve the emotions of our natural aspirated V12,” Mohr told Ars. “This was priority number one.”
“The second is, for sure, we would like to bring the car to the next performance level,” he continued. “Bigger displacement doesn’t make sense, because we already have 6.5 liters… You can use superchargers or turbochargers, but then we would completely lose the character of this car, [and that] was not an option.”
How does Lamborghini define this oh-so important V12 character? “There are two things,” Mohr said. “The first is the sound everybody loves. We worked to improve a lot on the crescendo, especially if you go to really high revs. The second thing we worked a lot on is the reactiveness, because this is the biggest advantage of this drivetrain.”
A closer look at the V12 in its engine bay.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
A closer look at the V12 in its engine bay.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
Mohr went on to explain how the engine’s reactiveness—the lack of turbo lag or supercharger spooling—in tandem with the e-motors provide the Revuelto with the hypercar performance Lamborghini customers and fans would expect from an Aventador follow-up. “Therefore, we came quite early on to the point that to use hybrid components is the best option. We wanted to use it always from the beginning as real performance hybrid, not a downsizing range-oriented hybrid.”
Indeed, this aspect is the gospel being preached by hybrid sports car makers of late. While recent examples such as the McLaren Artura and Ferrari 296 GTS sport smaller engines for reasons that include global CO2 emissions compliance, the hybrid system remains a supplement to the powerful combustion engine of choice. Yes, there are benefits, such as short stints in EV-only modes and a modicum of range-extending, but they’re more side effects than features. In short, the Lamborghini Revuelto isn’t your average hybrid, and the benefits don’t vanish once the battery is depleted—if you even manage to do so.
“First of all, we have chosen a battery as big as needed for the performance step but as small as possible to avoid additional weight,” Mohr explained. “The second step is choosing the best recuperation you can have. We have worked a lot on the recuperation potential because we are not using only the front axle as regenerating energy. So we have regeneration with braking, but we also use the e-motor on the back for recuperating, because usually if you have a traction-control intervention, you cut off the engine. In this case, we brake the engine with the electric motor and also regain energy.”
“The third thing is to have an adequate energy-flow management in the car,” said Mohr. “You ensure that the battery of this car is more or less never empty. If you try full electric, you can drive the battery empty, but then we have a recharge mode, and in five to eight minutes, depending on your driving profile, the battery is again at 80 percent. So even if you drive on the racetrack, you are not able to [fully] discharge the battery.”
A Lamborghini’s interior is nothing if not dramatic.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
A Lamborghini’s interior is nothing if not dramatic.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
Predictably, there were unavoidable challenges to overcome when developing an all-new hybrid vehicle from scratch. Along with the typical engineering challenges of developing a new monocoque, chassis, and gearbox, there’s the development of a highly revised engine and the addition of a new system with traditionally heavy components. “[We worked] as hard as possible to avoid this kind of negative weight impact. You cannot avoid it completely because it’s physics,” said Mohr.
Lamborghini was also keen to avoid the missteps it saw from some of its rivals. “A thing that some people really underestimate is… to have a clear, natural, and predictable character of the car,” Mohr continued. “Because if you have this level of freedom on your drivetrain and all the chassis systems, you can also destroy a lot of character in the application phase. Some cars that are on the market, if you drive them and you go close to the limit, you perceive that there is a kind of inconsistency or sometimes a bit of artificial behavior. I personally hate this, and therefore I work on a lot of these kind of things. And this takes more effort than if you have a standard drivetrain.”
It also goes without saying that all this effort isn’t for nothing. The benefits outweigh—most literally—the negative aspects.
“The biggest disadvantage of a naturally aspirated engine is that you do not have the instantaneous torque,” Mohr explained. “And now [with the Revuelto], you can have the instantaneous torque of the new components and then on top you have the high-revving emotional explosion of a natural aspirated engine. And this makes the drivetrain in this configuration really unique.
“When you speak about a car with this size, if you want to have the sharp handling, that additional opportunity to have a free [power] distribution—really free completely, from the rear axle to the front axle—the torque distribution is a big advantage,” he said.
The result should be a sharper and more effective torque vectoring system than has ever been seen in a Lamborghini. It’s something we won’t know for certain until we get some real-time wheel time. On paper, the results look promising. Lamborghini states that the Revuelto is capable of sprinting from 0 to 60 in just 2.5 seconds and topping out at around 217 mph (350 km/h).
“Big if true,” as they say.
As with so many other things, Lamborghini is plowing its own furrow with its electrification strategy.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
As with so many other things, Lamborghini is plowing its own furrow with its electrification strategy.
Credit:
Alex Kalogiannis
In terms of what the Revuelto means for the rest of the Lamborghini lineup, Mohr believes that starting on the top with Lamborghini’s flagship is the best way to set a benchmark.
“It’s the right way from my point of view to start with a top-down approach,” he said, “because then you start with your pinnacle—and this [V12 model] has definitely been our pinnacle. It’s not a derivative, and it’s not the entry car. It’s our flagship to demonstrate the advantages of this technology. This was our approach, and if you look at the technical complexity of the drivetrain, at the end of the day, it’s really a hypercar.”
Indeed, the electrified bulls are already out of the gate, as a hybrid Urus performance SUV is likely to emerge sooner than later, while Lamborghini CEO Stefan Winkelmann has confirmed a plug-in hybrid replacement for the outgoing V10-powered Huracán.
As a 2024 model, this hypercar will likely find its way to customer driveways at the end of this year. Priced at over $600,000, the first new Revueltos have already been purchased by the Lambo loyal, mostly sight unseen. Given the success and longevity of the Aventador and its many variants, they’re sure to get their money’s worth.
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