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Pininfarina Battista debuts in Geneva with 1,900 horsepower and zero emissions

Pininfarina, the storied Italian design house, has been working on its own production car for the past few years. We’ve seen previews, teasers and more for more than a year. Hell, if you have the cash, you can even put in an application to buy one of the 150 that will be built. Finally, at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the wraps have been pulled off the Pininfarina Battista, a sleek new 1,900-horsepower all-electric supercar that promises to be the most powerful road car ever to come out of Italy.

Power from the Rimac-supplied 120 kWh battery pack is sent to all four wheels, helping propel the Battista to 62 mph in fewer than 2 seconds and more than 180 mph in just 12 seconds. Torque output peaks at 1,696 pound-feet while the Battista itself tops out at 217 mph. To save weight, the Battista uses a carbon-fiber monocoque with carbon-fiber bodywork and an aluminum crash structure. Pininfarina doesn’t list the car’s weight, but the t-shaped battery resting in the middle of the car should help the Battista’s overall balance. The carbon-ceramic brakes use six-piston calipers both front and rear.

The car is typically Pininfarina and Italian in design. The mid-engine proportions give it a vague Ferrari-like appearance, especially up front. That’s not surprising considering just how many Ferrari designs have come from Pininfarina. The thin LED taillights are capped by an active spoiler. The charging port is in the rear, just at the tail end of the rear window. The Battista is set up for DC fast charging and has an estimated range of about 280 miles.

Only 150 will be built (50 to North America, 50 to Europe and 50 to the Middle East/Asia) and Pininfarina says this is the first in a range of zero-emission performance vehicles. There’s been talk of an SUV to follow the Battista. If it proves to be as bonkers as the Battista, we can’t wait.

March 4, 2019 / Comments Off

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Automobili Pininfarina teases the PF0 electric hypercar

Automobili Pininfarina isn’t at the L.A. Auto Show, but the Italo-German carmaker didn’t want to skip the reveal-happy festivities. From its headquarters in Munich, execs showed off the rear aspect of the coming PF0 in genuine carbon fiber. We saw a drawing of the twin rear wings in August not long after Monterey Car Week. This is the first time we’ve seen what the electric hypercoupe will actually look like.

First impressions are of a giant diffuser with a little bit of car attached. We shouldn’t be surprised that a car with 1,925 horsepower, 1,700 pound-feet of torque, a sub-2-second 0-60 time and a top speed beyond 220 miles per hour would feature bodacious air management. Above the diffuser, an LED sits at the rear edge of the tail flaps. We look forward to seeing how they’ll operate, since we can’t make out any other lights on the back of the PF0 — not even reverse lights. In a shaded rendering of the front three-quarter aspect, we get another glimpse of the full-width LED, some steep headlights, and a lower intake underlined by a deep front spoiler.

Automobili named the design language inaugurated by the PF0 “Pura” and has contracted with design house Pininfarina to turn Pura into a range of vehicles. The car company invested more than 20 million euro ($22.6M) in the design concern to create an electric, luxury performance lineup. So far, we’ve heard that three SUVs will arrive in the next five years.

First, a clarification: Indian conglomerate Mahindra bought the Pininfarina styling and engineering firm in 2015. In April of this year, Mahindra founded Automobili Pininfarina as a wholly separate company, with head offices in Munich, to develop and sell Pininfarina-branded production cars. Hence, the two companies are related by name and ownership, but with separate corporate structures. That explains how the automobile side makes a show of investing in the design side, with the automaker CEO saying, “It is a pleasure and a privilege to partner with the world’s greatest car design house, Pininfarina SpA. This agreement brings us together and marks the beginning of two exciting chapters in our very different histories.” It also explains why the PF0, which was designed by Automobili Pininfarina designers, will be hand-built in the design firm’s Cambiano, Italy, home base.

With nearly 75 percent of the North American allotment of 50 cars accounted for, the PF0 has gone on a European tour for prospective buyers. The electric demon will debut at next year’s Geneva Motor Show, and make first deliveries toward the end of 2020.

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November 28, 2018 / Comments Off

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Pininfarina PF0 motor and battery tech comes from Rimac

During Monterey Car Week in August, Automobili Pininfarina showed its PF0 hyper GT to clientele, an event said to have almost claimed the electric beauty’s entire U.S. allotment of 50 cars. Another month brings another tranche of details. First, Autocar reports that Pininfarina has finally confessed to tapping Rimac for the powertrain. Company CEO Michael Perschke said having Rimac’s growing list of clients include most of the competitors, and Porsche buying a stake in the Croatian firm, made a convincing case. Rimac worked on the PF0 drive system with the Mahindra Racing Formula E team.

The company suggested Rimac connections a while ago. Observers considered the tease all but assured when the Italian design house and soon-to-be automaker announced power outputs for the PF0. Seems the final numbers will be 1,900 horsepower and 1,700 pound-feet of torque, which hew to the C_Two’s 1,914 hp and 1,696 lb-ft, as do the claimed sub-two-second dash to 62 miles per hour and 250-mph-plus top speed. Intriguingly, Pininfarina said the batteries will be housed behind the passenger compartment so as to keep the batteries between the wheels; normally, and especially in a car like this, there’s some mention of housing the batteries in the floor to keep the center of gravity low. The Rimac C_Two houses the bulk of its batteries in a module behind the seats, but the module extends forward into the coupe’s floor.

The Italians poached personnel from like-minded competitors. Christian Jung takes the role of Chief Technology Officer after doing seven years at Porsche, which included a stint as the engineering project lead on the Porsche Taycan, and a year at Faraday Future as the senior director of electronics. Peter Tutzer signed on as Senior Technical Advisor, with a resume including development of the Pagani Zonda’s chassis and packaging, and responsibility for the packaging and integration of the Bugatti Veyron’s chassis and aerodynamics.

Three SUVs to follow the PF0 are expected in the next five years. Since the PF0 won’t begin dynamic testing until next year, and won’t park itself in heated customer garages for another two years, we could be looking at a McLaren-esque yearly cadence of Pininfarina works come 2020. The first tall boy, codenamed PF-One, will pack a battery pack of around 140 kWh and electric motors good for around 940 horsepower to compete with the Lamborghini Urus. Those specs should translate into a sub-three-second run to 62 mph.

The second SUV will target the Porsche Cayenne, the third aims at the Porsche Macan – arguably the flag-bearers for the (more) affordable performance SUV segment. All three SUVs will utilize the same modular platform and drivetrain. If this near-term plan sounds expensive, that’s because it is, but still a lot cheaper than it could be: Mahindra has invested an initial $100 million in Pininfarina to carry off the scheme, with a planned spend of $446.5 million over the next five years.

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September 30, 2018 / Comments Off

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Pininfarina teases rear aspect of PF0 hypercar, what other drivers will see

The Pininfarina design consultancy and manufacturing house has been on a slow march to the reveal of its first eponymous product under the Automobili Pininfarina banner. Finally, we get our first realistic glimpse of the electric hypercar codenamed PF0 that will be revealed at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. We’ve been briefed on some of the specs, including a sub-2-second quantum leap from 0 to 60 miles per hour, a top speed homing in on 250 mph, and a 300-mile range or more. But during the recent Pebble Beach festivities, Autoweek joined potential customers invited to preview the coupe, and provides notable details.

The design is said to be 85- or 90-percent finalized, currently sporting a clean profile “vaguely similar to Ferrari 488, but nearly free of all scoops, splitters, vents, winglets and buttresses.” The full-width LED across the front of the car that we’ve seen in a previous teaser rendering contrasts with the complex rear end in the latest glimpse above. Out back, the wing gets split in two and features both taillights and active aero flaps on the trailing edges. We trust AW’s word on the lack of buttresses, but in a previous rendering, the split rear wing appears to form the tail of buttress-like structures that rise from the PF0’s side sills.

The magazine said “Dihedral doors like on the McLaren 720S cut deep into the roof.” They open to reveal thin sills and a cabin that is “fairly accurate” when compared with previous artwork, specifically concerning the dashboard’s shape and driver-centric layout. One of the most interesting features of the cockpit is the customization available; AW said buyers will be able to choose different color combos for the driver and passenger areas.

The four electric motors will produce 1,900 horsepower and close to 1,700 lb-ft of torque. Ex-Formula 1 and current Formula E driver Nick Heidfeld is assisting with turning all that gumption into usable driving dynamics. The entire electric powertrain has been developed with assistance from the Mahindra Racing Formula E team fielded by Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian conglomerate that owns a controlling stake in Pininfarina. Other tech partners are contributing to the project, and we’ve been told that Rimac is lending some kind of hand.

When asked why the novice automaker chose an electric powertrain instead of a massively powerful electrically-assisted ICE as is common in the segment – and what a world we live in that hypercars are now a “segment” – CEO Michael Perschke said, “If you want a brand that’s relevant in 2050, you don’t start with a drivetrain that’s been used since 1890.”

Out of the 150 examples Pininfarina plans to hand-build in its Cambiano home base, at a price hovering around $2 million each, 50 are allotted for North America. The striptease will undoubtedly continue before the Geneva and the reveal of the coupe’s real name next year, but deliveries won’t begin until the end of 2020.

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August 29, 2018 / Comments Off

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Pininfarina teases PF0 electric supercar interior

Automobili Pininfarina recently released a sketch of its PF0, an electric supercar with over 1,000 horsepower, as the design house transitions into a maker of high-end EVs. Last month, we heard that Pininfarina would reveal the PF0 at Monterey Car Week. With that event nearly upon us, we now have teaser’s of the car’s interior, as well as more details about that reveal. The concept will indeed be shown, but only to an exclusive group of prospective buyers.

“Our presence in Monterey is an inspiring chapter in the story of realising Battista Farina’s long-held dream: one day there will be beautiful cars solely branded Pininfarina,” said Automobili Pininfarina CEO Michael Perschke in a statement. “These special VIP previews mean that future PF0 owners, most of whom will undoubtedly own numerous modern and historic classics, have an opportunity right now to be part of the birth of the company and their hypercar.”

The PF0, which will be limited to just 150 units, will be publicly revealed at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, but the preview in Monterey will be accompanied by a complete design brief by Pininfarina Design Director Luca Borgogno. We do know that the car will feature a carbon fiber body and will be exceedingly fast. The company states a 0-62 mph time of less than two seconds, with a top speed of over 250 miles per hour. The all-electric hypercar could also boast a driving range of over 300 miles.

The interior sketches are sparing in their details, but we do get a sense of the forward-looking and driver-focused design of the PF0. We see a chunky sport steering wheel with digital speedometer and what appears to be a navigation display front and center, with the instrument panel flanked by digital screens with more information. We’re hoping we’ll get more details, either from Pininfarina or potential owners, following the event next week.

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August 16, 2018 / Comments Off

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