“Something new and truly thrilling is about to be unveiled,” said Lamborghini in an Instagram post, accompanying this teaser image.
According to the post all will be revealed this coming Friday, August 18, at the Monterey Car Week in California. But what is it?
Although that’s where the flow of official information stops, word on the street is that it’s a new concept car previewing the Italian firm’s first full EV, which is expected to hit the streets around 2028.
While the darkened silhouette prevents us from seeing its full form, the teaser does reveal an extended glasshouse that implies it’s a four-door car, while its shark-like sloping bonnet remains true to Lamborghini’s supercars.
Its form also seems more along the lines of a conventional saloon car than an SUV or crossover.
But can Lamborghini fans really get excited about an electric model?
Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann certainly seems to think so.
Last year he told Auto Express that a full EV could be “even more emotional than an internal combustion-engined car”.
Technical chief Rouven Mohr backed that up by saying “there are things you can do with EVs that you can’t do with internal combustion-engined cars,” which could mean things like clever torque vectoring that improves agility, according to the UK publication.
Lamborghini took its first step towards mainstream electrification with the Revuelto, revealed earlier this year as the Aventador’s replacement.
Billed as a milestone car for the brand, its plug-in hybrid drivetrain pairs a high-revving V12 petrol engine with three electric motors and a lithium ion battery pack for a system output of 746kW and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 2.5 seconds.
Clever configuration of all the heavy hybrid components allowed the firm to achieve an optimal weight distribution of 44:56 front to rear, while extensive use of carbon fibre for the body and frame also work to mitigate the weight penalty imposed by the battery.
It would appear, then, that Lamborghini’s mainstream sportscar range is safe from full electrification, at least until the end of the decade.
The Urus, meanwhile, is expected to be replaced by a full EV later in this decade, which would likely share much of its architecture with the aforementioned four-door.