SANT’AGATA BOLOGNESE, Italy — The boys spilling out of a grade faculty in an Italian village went silent because the Lamborghini approached, its throaty 12-cylinder engine trumpeting its presence. Then, because the wedge-shaped beast rumbled by the schoolyard, they broke into cheers, pumping their fists and leaping into the air.
It was a spontaneous expression of the emotion that the Italian sports activities automobile maker conjures up and that motivates those that can afford it to shell out a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars}, in some circumstances tens of millions, to get one.
But Lamborghini, Ferrari and a handful of different corporations that make so-called supercars — a loosely outlined class of automobiles that price a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} and provide race-car-level efficiency — face an existential risk. The auto trade is shifting inexorably towards battery energy, a development that these carmakers can not escape. They are actually wrestling with how to design electrical sports activities automobiles that may encourage the identical ardour and command the identical costs.
Tesla has already challenged Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s claims of being on the leading edge of automotive design. Tesla pioneered electrical automobiles, and its Model S Plaid can speed up to 60 miles per hour in simply over two seconds, sooner than any Ferrari or Lamborghini, in accordance to testers at Motor Trend.
“For the supercar makers, the question is will they be able to also be super in leading the world in electrification?” mentioned Karl-Thomas Neumann, a former chief govt of the German carmaker Opel who’s on the board of OneD Battery Sciences, a California provider of know-how for electrical automobiles.
“If you are just building a supercar and putting a Ferrari logo on it, that’s not enough,” Mr. Neumann mentioned. And the corporate is “very late” to the electrical automobile recreation, he added.
Ferrari has supplied a plug-in hybrid, the Stradale, since 2019 however gained’t unveil a completely electrical automobile till 2025. The firm, primarily based in Maranello, Italy, elaborated on its plans in an occasion for buyers this month, saying it’s going to construct electrical motors and different key parts itself, consistent with its custom of craftsmanship and exclusivity.
“An electric Ferrari will be a true Ferrari,” Benedetto Vigna, the chief govt, mentioned in an interview forward of the presentation.
Ferrari additionally mentioned that, according to custom, it might borrow know-how from its formidable racing crew. But the corporate doesn’t compete in Formula E, the reply to Formula 1 for electrical automobiles. Mr. Vigna declined to say whether or not there are any plans to achieve this.
Lamborghini, which is owned by Volkswagen and primarily based within the village of Sant’Agata Bolognese, will provide its first plug-in hybrid in 2023 and a completely electrical automobile someday within the second half of the last decade.
A Critical Year for Electric Vehicles
As the general auto market stagnates, the recognition of battery-powered automobiles is hovering worldwide.
The mystique of the Italian supercars is deeply intertwined with the sound and the ability of inner combustion engines. The famend Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan was thought to have as soon as mentioned a Ferrari 12-cylinder engine achieved “a harmony no maestro could play.”
Electric motors are inherently sotto voce.
“Sound is an important asset to these vehicles,” mentioned Andy Palmer, a former chief govt of Aston Martin who’s now the chief govt of Switch Mobility, a maker of electrical buses. “Does the sports car as we know it continue to exist if you’re not able to differentiate based on sound?”
The query is of curiosity to greater than only a rich few. Italian pleasure and status are at stake.
While a lot of the remainder of the Italian auto trade has turn into almost irrelevant — Fiat’s market share in Europe has fallen to simply 4 % — supercar devotees routinely shell out a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} for Ferraris and Lamborghinis and sometimes wait a 12 months for supply. The most unique fashions have worth tags within the tens of millions.
The two manufacturers signify Italy’s industrial prowess, which is commonly overshadowed by its political dysfunction.
Ferrari and Lamborghini are additionally very worthwhile. Ferrari, which is traded on the inventory trade however managed by Italy’s highly effective Agnelli household, reported a net profit of 240 million euros, or $250 million, within the first three months of 2022 on gross sales of $1.2 billion.
Lamborghini contributed €180 million in pretax revenue to Volkswagen’s backside line through the first quarter on gross sales of €592 million. Last 12 months Ferrari offered 11,000 automobiles, whereas Lamborghini offered 8,300. The two corporations’ double-digit returns on gross sales are unusually excessive for the auto trade, which has notoriously slim revenue margins.
Change is clear within the area close to Bologna, rolling countryside referred to as the Motor Valley. Ferrari and Lamborghini are a half-hour drive aside.
Last 12 months Ferrari broke with custom when it named Mr. Vigna chief govt. Though he’s a automobile buff who, at age 14, sneaked away from house for a number of days to attend a Formula 1 race, Mr. Vigna had by no means labored at a automobile firm. He was beforehand a high-ranking govt at STMicroelectronics, a maker of semiconductors. His appointment signaled the significance of electronics to Ferrari’s future.
“We needed a C.E.O. with a deep understanding of the technologies that are changing not only the auto industry but the wider world,” John Elkann, the Agnelli household scion and Ferrari chairman, informed buyers this month.
Mr. Vigna, whose clients at STM included Apple and Tesla, brings to Ferrari deep connections from the tech world. “If I need some contacts with a potential partner or supplier, it’s easy for me to reach the right level of people,” he mentioned.
The shift to batteries presents Ferrari and Lamborghini with a number of challenges. One attribute of supercars is their extraordinarily low profile, which reduces wind resistance. The automobile’s roof is barely waist-high. The similar silhouette is a problem to obtain with batteries, which usually sit below the passenger compartment.
Another attribute is exclusivity. Buyers could simply wait a 12 months for supply. The automobiles are collectors’ objects that always enhance in worth with time. Vintage Ferraris have offered for greater than $20 million.
But does a Ferrari nonetheless really feel unique when a Tesla is quicker? Mr. Vigna argued that a number of hundredths of a second’s distinction in 0-to-60 acceleration was not the be-all and end-all. He likened driving a Ferrari to driving a curler coaster. It’s not a lot the velocity as the feeling.
“Ferrari is experience,” he mentioned.
Electric automobiles are recognized for his or her easy acceleration and their silent trip. That’s not what patrons of a Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari SF90 Spider pay upward of $500,000 for. They desire a feeling of uncooked energy.
A Lamborghini driver sits inches from the highway within the low-slung cockpit, conscious of each imperfection within the pavement. The huge engine is simply behind the seats, thundering within the passengers’ ears. The steering is exact however stiff, demanding intense focus. It’s a complete sensory expertise that makes a visitors circle in an Italian village really feel like a good curve on the Monaco Grand Prix.
“The car gives you the feeling that you are, as a driver, a hero,” mentioned Rouven Mohr, the chief know-how officer of Lamborghini. Recreating that feeling in an electrical automobile, he mentioned, “is our main task.”
Batteries provide some benefits to supercar designers. Electric automobiles don’t want lengthy drive shafts and hulking transmissions. Electric motors are a lot smaller than inner combustion engines. The parts could be organized to optimize weight distribution and dealing with.
Each wheel can have its personal electrical motor and be programmed to function at barely completely different speeds to maximize dealing with round a curve. Lamborghini is equipping automobiles with synthetic intelligence that may be taught a driver’s preferences and driving model, and regulate dealing with and efficiency accordingly.
“The car understands what you want,” Mr. Mohr mentioned.
So far, the unique clientele for supercars is just not clamoring for an electrical automobile. “No one has supplied them one thing the place they are saying, ‘Oh, this is even cooler than my current combustion engine car,’” Mr. Mohr said.
Other companies are trying, though so far they are producing electric supercars in very small numbers. Rimac Automobili, a Croatian firm whose investors include Porsche, Hyundai and Goldman Sachs’s private-equity unit, has unveiled the Nevera, an electrical sports activities automobile that the corporate claims can speed up from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in lower than two seconds.
Lotus Cars, a British producer managed by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China, sells an electrical mannequin, the Evija. That and the Nevera have worth tags effectively above $2 million. Lotus, whose different fashions price a lot lower than Ferraris or Lamborghinis, has mentioned it’s going to promote solely electrical automobiles starting in 2028. (Fun reality: Lotus provided key parts for Tesla’s first manufacturing mannequin, the Roadster.)
Other shut rivals are shifting at about the identical velocity. In Britain, Aston Martin plans to provide its first all-electric car in 2025. McLaren, additionally British, isn’t anticipated to provide a mannequin powered solely by batteries till 2028.
Ferrari and Lamborghini usually are not planning to cease making automobiles with inner combustion engines. But they’re below rising strain from regulators to lower gas consumption, particularly in Europe. A two-seat Lamborghini Aventador coupe will get a median of 11 miles to the gallon, or half the gas economic system of a full-size pickup truck, in accordance to the Environmental Protection Agency. (Aficionados argue that most individuals drive their supercars only some thousand miles a 12 months, so gas consumption is low.)
Wealthy youthful patrons could not need to be seen in a automobile that’s so extravagant.
“We are getting younger customers every day,” mentioned Stephan Winkelmann, the chief govt of Lamborghini. They need efficiency, he mentioned, but additionally “peace of mind.”
