Mahindra-owned and once involved in designing Ferraris, design house Pininfarina recently presented its electric hypercar – Battista. The release of teasers had built quite a hype around this vehicle and now the famous design house has finally unveiled its first ever car, and an electric hypercar at that!
Designed jointly by Pininfarina SpA and Automobili Pininfarina, this hypercar has all the right curves and edges that Italian vehicles are known for. A potential challenger for Bugatti’s Veyron and Chiron, Battista sure has the looks for the part. The humongous scoop on the bonnet coupled with a front carbon-fier splitter and an active rear diffuser makes this one of the sharpest electric hypercars around.
Pininfarina Battista’s batteries power all the wheels on the car. Instead of the usual central motor, Pininfarina has gone for individual motors for each wheel. Talking of the battery itself, the Battista sports a 120 kWh lithium ion unit. As is the case with all electric cars, Battista too benefits from the instantaneous torque if the electric motor and hence is able to produce an astonishing 2,300 Nm! If this wasn’t enough the motor’s power is rated at 1,900 Bhp! This is a serious figure that the Pininfarina Battista promises to deliver on. With a 0-100 km/h in 2 seconds and to 300 km/h in under 12 seconds the Pininfarina Battista not only matches but betters the times of Veyron and Chiron. As far as top speed is concerned the Battista can reach up to 350 km/h. Not just track performance but Pininfarina has focused on real-life usage as well, and has announced a performance package that can extend the car’s range to 450 km.
Michael Perschke, the CEO of Automobili Pininfarina said that no luxury car brand or up and coming brands can match Pininfarina’s combination of skills and heritage as of now. He also said that while the success of the car can’t be guaranteed as of yet, he sure is confident in turning heads and writing automotive history with Battista’s launch in 2020.
Addressing the issue of the lack of an equally thrilling sound in electric cars, Pininfarina Battista does not plan to play any pre-taped sound in the cabin. Rather than the engine, it is Battista’s body that will be responsible for the natural sound generated by the car. The owner can choose a sound that will together be produced by a combination of wind noise, flow of air, car’s aircon, an the resonance of the carbon monocoque body of the Battista.
As is the norm with hypercars, Battista too will be sold in limited numbers, 150 to be precise. All these mind-boggling specs will come at a price of $2 million or nearly Rs. 14.2 crore when converted to Indian currency. With the major clientele of such products hailing from Europe, US, Middle East, and Asian regions, Pininfarina is sure to workout a unit allocation strategy.