Why Lamborghini Canceling Its EV Actually Makes Sense
Fun fact: I actually drove the Lamborghini Lanzador EV concept car back in 2023. The show car was a far cry from the 1,000-plus-horsepower beast Lambo said would arrive in 2028 (later pushed to 2029).
This thing behaved more like the most expensive-looking golf cart of all time. It was impossible to steer, had terrible brakes, and let out a concerningly loud WHIRR at its top speed of 15 miles per hour. I spent the whole experience worried I was going to break the thing and wind up in some Italian prison.
Turns out I might be one of the only people ever to drive an electric Lanzador. The EV project has been put out to pasture by Lambo CEO Stephan Winkelmann, he told The Sunday Times this week. On this week’s episode of the Plugged-In Podcast (available wherever you get podcasts), new cohost Mack Hogan and I break down Lamborghini’s move, and why it’s not like other EV cancellations.
Lamborghini’s CEO may have a point when he says there’s nearly “zero” demand for an electric supercar, Mack argues. That segment, along with big pickup trucks, may face the steepest uphill battle to electrification due to both technology and marketing challenges.
Makers of extremely high-performance cars need to grapple with the big, heavy battery question. Plus, that buyer, by and large, cares more about prestige and the visceral feel of a big engine than a quiet ride or being kind to the environment.
Lamborghini Lanzador Concept
When Lamborghini finally decides to go electric—or, more likely, is forced to do so—it will need to differentiate from the pack of stupid-quick EVs too. During my prototype drive, the company’s CTO acknowledged as much.
“If you have zero to 60 in 1.9 or 1.8, you cannot perceive the difference. It’s a commodity,” he said. “We strongly believe that in the fully electric case, we have to redefine a little bit the Lambo driving experience.”
He told me that the company considering things like steering wheel-mounted buttons that control torque vectoring. That’s a whole new world.
So you can see why the company is hanging onto gas as long as it can. The loosening of Europe’s 2035 gas-car ban certainly makes that easier; Winkelmann has been open in the past that regulations were the primary reason the brand was even messing around with electrification. Now? The global sentiment around EVs has bought it some time.
This week, Mack and I also break down Uber’s Autonomous Solutions initiative. It’s an ambitious plan to help self-driving car companies scale by doing all the nitty-gritty stuff—from customer support to fleet management—but can it beat Waymo? And I speak with Andrea Saucedo, Honda’s home energy solutions lead, about the future of vehicle-to-grid tech.
We also discuss Lucid’s tepid growth plans for the Gravity and the Nissan Leaf S (RIP).
Got ideas for the podcast? Guests you want to hear from? Hit me up: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
