Lamborghini Sian an electrifying hypercar

Lamborghini gives a glimpse of its hypercar world at the Frankfurt Motor Show with the superconductor-based hybrid Sián.

In a show that’s desperately trying to paint a green face, the Italian supercar maker delivered the Sián hybrid, with 602kW of combined electrical and naturally aspirated V12 muscle.

The most powerful roadgoing Lamborghini yet, it also has the best power-to-weight ratio the brand has delivered, promising a zero to 100km/h time of just 2.8 seconds and a top speed of more than 350km/h.

With the full 63-car production run sold out, the Sián’s design language points the way to future Lamborghinis beyond the Aventador and Huracán.

“The Sián is a masterpiece in possibilities,” said Lamborghini chair Stefano Domenicali.

“The Sián represents the first step in Lamborghini’s route to electrification, and expedites our next-generation V12 engine,” said Domenicali.

“With the Sián, Automobili Lamborghini demonstrates its dynastic strength as a legendary super sports car brand for the future,” he said.

With a name derived from the Bolognese dialect for “lightning”, the Sián’s core powertrain is its 577kW version of the Aventador’s V12, revving to 8,500rpm, giving it the most powerful internal combustion engine Lamborghini has had.

It adds another 25kW of power from its 48V electric motor, bringing the system power out to 602kW. The electric motor can also run independently for low-speed manoeuvring such as parking, but Lamborghini more pointedly insists it is 10% faster in acceleration than a car without the system.

Lamborghini has shied away from the typical lithium-ion battery and switched the Sián to a supercapacitor, which Lamborghini claims is three times more powerful than a lithiumion battery of the same weight.

The engineering team sits the supercapacitor between the cockpit and the engine to help with weight distribution, and the supercapacitor is also powered up by a new generation of regenerative braking.

Lamborghini has smooshed together styling cues from the Terzo Millennio concept and some futuristic Countachsourced thinking to create a shape that strongly hints at future Lamborghinis.

“Lamborghini is inherently a rule breaker, a challenger, always pushing what is possible to find a better solution. With the Sián we are defining our route to innovation and we are setting new rules in new technologies, instead of just following existing solutions,” said the carmaker.