The difficult transition to electric Italian icons

(Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy) Primary school boys in an Italian village remained silent as the Lamborghini approached, its throaty 12-cylinder engine announcing its presence. Then, when the cuneiform beast passed through the schoolyard, they started cheering as they raised their fists and jumped in the air.

It was the spontaneous expression of the emotion that the Italian sports car manufacturer inspires and that pushes those who can afford it to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions, to get one.

But Lamborghini, Ferrari and a handful of other companies that produce so-called supercars – a loosely defined category of vehicles that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and deliver race-car performance – are struggling. to an existential threat. The automotive industry is moving inexorably towards battery power, a trend these manufacturers cannot escape. They must now strive to design electric sports cars that will spark the same passion and cost the same price.

Tesla has previously challenged Ferrari and Lamborghini’s claims to be at the forefront of automotive design. Tesla pioneered electric vehicles, and its Model S Plaid can sprint to 60 mph in just over two seconds, faster than any Ferrari or Lamborghini, according to Motor Trend testers.

“For supercar manufacturers, the question is whether they will also be able to be global leaders in electrification,” said Karl-Thomas Neumann, former CEO of German automaker Opel, who sits on the board of the company. administration of OneD Battery Sciences, a California-based electric car technology provider.

And the company is “far behind” in electric cars, he added.

Ferrari has been offering a plug-in hybrid, the Stradale, since 2019, but won’t unveil an all-electric car until 2025. The company, based in Maranello, Italy, announced its plans at an investor event this month , saying it would build the electric motors and other key components itself, in keeping with its tradition of craftsmanship and exclusivity.

“An electric Ferrari will be a real Ferrari,” assured CEO Benedetto Vigna in an interview ahead of the presentation.

Ferrari also said that, in keeping with tradition, it will borrow technology from its formidable racing team. But the company does not compete in Formula E, the answer to Formula 1 for electric cars. Mr. Vigna declined to say whether there were any plans to do so.

Lamborghini, which is owned by Volkswagen and headquartered in the village of Sant’Agata Bolognese, will offer its first plug-in hybrid car in 2023 and a fully electric car in the second half of the decade.

A matter of sound

The mystique of Italian supercars is deeply tied to the sound and power of internal combustion engines. The famous Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan once said that a Ferrari 12-cylinder engine achieves “a harmony that no maestro could play”.

Electric motors are inherently sotto voce.

“Sound is a big plus for these vehicles,” said Andy Palmer, former CEO of Aston Martin, now CEO of Switch Mobility, an electric bus manufacturer. “Does the sports car as we know it continue to exist if you can’t tell the difference based on sound? »

The question does not interest only a handful of rich people. Italy’s pride and prestige are at stake.

While much of the rest of the Italian auto industry has shrunk to almost insignificance – Fiat’s market share in Europe has fallen to just 4% – supercar enthusiasts regularly shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for Ferraris and Lamborghinis and often wait a year before delivery. The most exclusive models sell for millions of dollars.

These two marks represent Italy’s industrial prowess, often overshadowed by its political dysfunctions.

Ferrari and Lamborghini are also very profitable. Ferrari, which is listed on the stock exchange but controlled by the powerful Italian Agnelli family, reported net profit of 240 million euros (250 million US dollars) for the first three months of 2022, on sales of 1.2 billion US.

Lamborghini contributed 180 million euros in pre-tax profit to Volkswagen’s first quarter result, on sales of 592 million euros. Last year, Ferrari sold 11,000 cars, while Lamborghini sold 8,300. Returns on sales for both companies are unusually high for the auto industry, which has notoriously low profit margins.

A total sensory experience

The switch to batteries presents several challenges for Ferrari and Lamborghini. One of the characteristics of supercars is their extremely low profile, which reduces wind resistance. The roof of the car is barely waist high. It’s hard to achieve the same silhouette with batteries, which are usually located under the cabin.

Another feature is exclusivity. Buyers can easily wait a year for delivery. Cars are collectibles that often increase in value over time. Vintage Ferraris have sold for over US$20 million.

But does a Ferrari still feel exclusive when a Tesla is faster? Mr. Vigna argued that the difference of a few hundredths of a second in the acceleration from 0 to 100 was not a determining factor. He compares driving a Ferrari to driving a roller coaster. It’s not so much the speed as the feeling that counts.

“Ferrari is experience,” he said.

Electric cars are known for their smooth acceleration and quiet driving. That’s not why buyers of a Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari SF90 Spider pay more than US$500,000. They want a feeling of raw power.

The driver of a Lamborghini sits inches from the road in the low-slung cockpit, aware of every imperfection in the road surface. The huge engine is just behind the seats, it rumbles in the ears of the passengers. The steering is precise but stiff, requiring intense concentration. It’s a total sensory experience that makes a roundabout in an Italian village feel like a tight bend at the Monaco Grand Prix.

“The car gives you the feeling of being, as a driver, a hero”, explained Rouven Mohr, technical director of Lamborghini. Recreating this feeling in an electric car, he added, “is our main task”.

Batteries offer certain advantages to supercar designers. Electric cars don’t need long drive shafts and bulky transmissions. Electric motors are much smaller than internal combustion engines. Components can be arranged to optimize weight distribution and handling.

Each wheel can have its own electric motor and be programmed to run at slightly different speeds to optimize cornering handling. Lamborghini plans to equip cars with artificial intelligence that would learn the driver’s preferences and driving style, and adjust handling and performance accordingly.

“The car understands what you want,” Mohr said.

So far, the exclusive supercar clientele is not asking for an electric car.

No one offered them something that made them say, “Oh, that’s even cooler than my current combustion engine car,” Mr. Mohr concluded.