Iconic supercar maker Bugatti has confirmed it isn’t ready to give up on petrol power just yet – despite the recent merger with Croatian electric hypercar specialist Rimac.
In an end-of-2021 video (discovered by Motor1), Bugatti Rimac CEO Mate Rimac suggested a new Bugatti supercar was being developed to succeed the current Chiron – and that it will retain an internal-combustion engine, rather than make the previously-anticipated switch to electric power.
“There is a future for combustion engines in Bugatti,” Mate Rimac said in the video.
“I don’t want to talk much about future plans yet, but I can tell you you’ll be astonished. You’ll be especially astonished by the features which have not yet been seen on any other car, and I am pushing also for a combustion engine.”
While there is a push to retain at least the option of petrol power, it is not clear if the next Bugatti hypercar will continue with another update to the quad-turbo 8.0-litre W16 petrol engine in the current Chiron – production of which is due to end in the coming months – or another petrol engine option altogether.
Euro 7 emissions regulations due to come into force in 2025 could force Bugatti to give up its signature 16-cylinder engine and succumb to downsizing – possibly with a eight, 10 or 12-cylinder engine, equipped with some form of hybrid technology to help improve emissions.
Should a smaller engine and electrified power system be fitted, it’s unlikely performance would take a step back compared with the outgoing Chiron, which develops 1103kW (1500 metric horsepower, or PS) and 1600Nm in standard form, increasing to 1175kW (1600 PS) in the Super Sport variant.
While there is a push to retain an internal-combustion engine as part of Bugatti’s future model range, the hypercar maker has indicated it plans to expand its line-up under part-Rimac management.
Rimac boss Mate Rimac indicated the company was considering an “SUV or long [bonnet] coupe or something insane” during an interview last year.
Bugatti will launch its first electric vehicle before the end of the decade, Mate Rimac confirmed to Autocar last July: “I can tell you that within this decade, there will be fully electric Bugattis. But I can also tell you that by the end of this decade, there will still be combustion engines – not fully combustion-engined, of course, [but] very heavily hybridised.”
However, Bugatti won’t resort to rebadging Rimac’s own Nevera electric hypercar – Mate Rimac told Autocar – nor will it re-engineer or reskin the current Chiron to create a new model.
“We will not just restyle or hybridise the Chiron to make a new car. We’re developing a completely new product from the ground up, because we think that’s the best way to go, and that product will still have a combustion engine,” Rimac told Autocar.
In a recent video, Bugatti Rimac previewed four new cars under fabric covers – with silhouettes ranging from a new version of the Chiron, to a track-focused hypercar (shown with a rear spoiler), and what could be a new model inspired by open-top race cars of the 1930s, including Bugatti’s own Type 35.
“I am a car guy. I know about technology, engines, and I won’t be satisfied with anything less than the very best, with something that will inspire new generations,” Rimac concluded in Bugatti’s 2021 wrap-up video.
Keyword: Bugatti Chiron successor to retain petrol power, but will it be the quad-turbo W16?