Lamborghini tells us that the Huracan is getting a plug-in hybrid drivetrain with more than six but less than 12 cylinders.
The Lamborghini Huracan supercar will turn towards plug-in hybrid power as soon as next year, and the firm’s Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr has outlined to Automotive Daily that it will feature a bespoke powertrain and not something sourced from within the VW Group, Lamborghini’s owner.
“Regarding the drivetrain it will be plug-in hybrid, and from the performance point of view it will again be a big step, let me say.”
“The engine will be bespoke for Lamborghini. On the final details we can’t yet communicate this, but I would say more than six and less than 12 cylinders for the combustion engine.”
The latest Lamborghini electrification news follows a report from the Automotive Daily Network that the first fully-electric Lamborghini will arrive in 2028.
While V8 plug-in hybrid powertrains exist within the VW Group and one will feature in an upcoming PHEV version of the Lamborghini Urus SUV, Mohr’s revelations could also point to the Huracan using an electrified version of its current trademark 5.2-litre V10.
Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkleman has already previously outlined that the top-line Aventadador successor will stick with a traditional V12 engine, but that this car will also feature an electrified plug-in hybrid drivetrain.
While this approach could be applied to the Huracan too, retaining the naturally aspirated car’s V10 motor and adding a battery and electric motor system, there’s also a possibility that the Huracan could use a plug-in hybrid V8 drivetrain sourced from within the group with some bespoke parts, tuning and calibration to differentiate the Huracan’s powertrain from intra-group siblings such as Porsche, Audi and in the future, Bentley.
Sources suggest that a third possibility is on the cards. This would feature an in-house designed engine that, combined with an electric motor, could produce more than 625kW. That would make the ageing Huracan a true rival for the likes of Ferrari’s much newer 296 GTB plug-in hybrid.
“For sure, it’s a challenge for us [removing an ICE in terms of character], for such an emotional brand like us, it’s an additional challenge I would say. But we already have ideas and if you ask me the definition – the pillar attributes of Lamborghini – I would say the design, performance values are the basis for everything, then the driving experience and what that means.
“To be a little more precise I would say the reactiveness of the car and the feedback to the driver, and also the NVH, not only sound. In the electric world the sound will have a little bit of a different ranking, but these are always like today the pillars. Even if you would not hear the engine sound today, you would recognise how the cars behave today as a Lamborghini.
There is more scope for differentiation I think, if you speak about throttle response, recuperation strategy, torque vectoring strategy – not only front to rear but also left to right – so you have even more differentiation topics. The hardware today – the combustion engine, the gear shift – it limits you a little bit today. In the electrified world the field of possible application is even wider, so on this topic I am not worried about at all. In some ways it will be easier to define a Lamborghini in the future.”
Lamborghini has outlined that its line-up will be completely electrified by the end of 2024 as the second stage of its Cor Tauri programme.
The Italian firm will spend $1.8 billion Euros (AUD$2.68bn) on the development of its electrification strategy over four years to deliver a hybrid option for every model it sells in two and a half years’ time, with the first full Lambo EV set to be a four-seat GT that will appear in the second half of this decade
Sean Carson
Keyword: Lamborghini Huracan plug-in hybrid engine confirmed