PARIS MOTOR SHOW
Lamborghini’s ridiculous hybrid hypercar leads the impressive unveilings in Paris.
Call it electron envy or a particularly persistent devotion to performance, but it would appear that the good engineers in Sant’Agata have been coveting their neighbours’ horsepower. Pride of place on Lamborghini’s stand at this year’s Paris auto show is the all-new Asterion LPI 910-4, whose specifications read like a Porsche 918’s.
A whopping 910 horsepower is available thanks to the combination of a 5.2-litres of gas-fed V10 liberated from the Huracan and no less than three electric motors. Yup, three; one, Honda Insight-like (that also acts as a starter), sandwiched in between the gas engine and the dual-clutch seven-speed transmission and one more in each of the front half axles.
Lamborghini claims this proliferation of electrons makes for two distinct driving experiences. In Ibrido (hybrid) mode, the gas engine and all three electric motors combine for a four-wheel-drive system that is almost assuredly necessary to contain those aforementioned 910 hp. But, in Zero (zero emissions/full electric) mode, only the front two motors are used, the onboard lithium-ion battery having enough juice for up to 50 kilometres of fossil-fuel-free-motoring.
Performance is definitely diminished — Lambo claims a 320 km/h top speed with all motors a-blazing, but the purely electric top speed is a still useful 125 klicks per. More importantly, the Asterion consumes but 4.1 L/100 km in Europe’s NDEC cycle. A figure made all the more incredible when you consider that the Asterion can accelerate to 100 km/h in less than three seconds.
Hybridization does come with a penalty, the Asterion weighing about 250 kilograms more than the Aventador it’s based on, just under 1,800 kilos in all. Indeed, weight is the LP 910-4’s biggest issue, with the 10.8 kWh lithium-ion batteries and three electric motors required for the car’s 50 km range affecting chassis dynamics.