The Battista Hypercar is set to shake up the work of luxury high performance motoring. This true speed freak has an high-power electric motor at each wheel and has been developed with the input of successful former F1 and Formula E racer, Nick Heidfeld.
Electric motoring tech is fast outstripping internal combustion not only in green credentials but also in terms of sheer power and next-gen design. Not only will the Battista be the most powerful car ever to be designed and built in Italy, when it goes into production in 2020, but it’s also been through the world-famous Pininfarina S.p.A. styling studios in Italy, the name behind the styling of over 60 Ferraris.
Here’s what makes the Battista the hypercar of the future…
The Battista’s 0-60mph sprint time of less than two seconds is faster than a F1 race car
Monstrous Levels Of Power The internal combustion engine is an inefficient, planet-destroying dinosaur compared to zero emission electric motors. The Battista’s battery provides power to four electric motors, one at each wheel, which combine to produce a targeted 1,900 hp and 1,696 lb/ft of torque. It’s that torque that creates a claimed 0-60mph sprint time of less than two seconds and faster than a F1 race car.
For comparison, Tesla’s upcoming electric supercar, the Roadster will have around 1,000 hp and 758 lb/ft of torque (according to Jason Fenke of Engineering Explained, Elon Musk stated figures for wheel torque rather than the usually quoted engine torque at launch).
When you compare the Battista’s power rating with the world’s current top fossil-fuelled production supercars, there’s really no contest. Even the ridiculously thirsty 5.0 litre V8 engines driving the likes of the world’s official fastest car, the Koenigsegg Agera RS (Bugatti claims the Chiron is faster), or the Hennessey Venom GT, can’t compete – the Agera RS reaches 1,380hp.
Not only do gas guzzlers fall shot on the power stakes, they’re also never going to catch up. As former F1 driver, Nick Heidfeld says: ‘The technology does not exist to achieve nearly 2,000 horsepower in a road-legal luxury hyper GT car using an internal combustion engine.’ Electric really is the only game in town.
The Range Is There Too The previous main criticism of power-hungry, high performance electric cars was that you’d have trouble getting to the shops and back without having to plug in for a recharge. That’s no longer the case with the whopping 120 kWh battery used in the Battista – the same rating also in BMW’s top upcoming electric cars. According to Automobili Pininfarina, the company behind the Battista, it will have a range of around 300 miles, or ‘a non-stop drive from New York to New Hampshire.’ And that range combines with the full carbon-fibre body and engines to deliver the potential to break the top speed barrier of 250mph.
You soon won’t be able to drive a V8 engine within the city limits of any urban area
It’s A Sustainable Luxury Pioneer The Battista is set to be the first in a line of luxury high-performance electric cars, with Automobili Pininfarina set to unveil the next model, codenamed PF1 at the 2019 Monterey Car Week. Because the new company is focussing solely on electric, it is able to follow a vision of combining sustainability and luxury, pioneering in the emerging market for high performance driving in urban, ultra low emissions zones, such as the ones being introduced into London right now.
If the trend continues, soon you won’t be able to take a V8 anything within the city limits of any urban area – speed is nothing without convenience. Michael Perschke, the Automobili Pininfarina CEO, is bullish about the cars prospects, saying of it’s New York launch: ‘We’re quite confident that this is the car that makes the United States fall in love with ultra-high-performance electric vehicles.’
The Looks Are Pure Hypercar Beyond the guts of this car – worked on by Senior Technical Advisor Peter Tutzer, who also played an integral role in the engineering of the Bugatti Veyron – its design has been delivered by the ‘PURA’ aesthetic and performance vision of Automobil Pininfarina and Pininfarina SpA, to deliver optimised aerodynamics, ground-breaking engineering solutions and that next-gen hypercar look.
The Battista makes a statement with its single dynamic strip of light cascading from the front of the car to takes the place of traditional headlights. Inside the car, the cockpit is focused around a ‘vanishing point’ concept for the main dashboard display, focusing the driver’s attention on the job in hand – an intuitive, driver-centric layout,’ says the company.
Watch this space to see if you really can have luxury hypercar performance without torching the planet – RSNG has put in a strong bid to get behind the steering wheel and test the Battista’s chops...
WHAT NEXT? Watch the development and design team behind the Battista discuss the philosophy behind the hypercar.
Follow the writer on Instagram @The_Adventure_Fella