The successor to Lamborghini’s Aventador has a new design, tub, engine and tech
MIKE DUFF
Lamborghini’s long-awaited successor to the Aventador has arrived as the Italian marque’s first proper foray into the electric age – albeit with the bulk of the Revuelto’s 1000bhp being drawn from a new 6.5-litre V12 engine.
The Italian firm’s maiden plug-in hybrid, which was codenamed LB744, is the most potent supercar in its history. It can therefore deliver some eye-watering numbers: 0-62mph in 2.5sec, 0-124mph in less than 7.0sec and a top speed beyond 217mph.
This is due to the V12 being supplemented by three 147bhp electric motors – one inside the new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and one on each front wheel.
Keeping V12 power was a battle, admitted former chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani, who led the early development of the Revuelto, going against the Volkswagen Group’s widespread efforts to downsize and turbocharge. Yet it was a battle that Lamborghini won, thanks to overwhelming support from customers and hybridisation being used to cut emissions.
The new engine, turned 180deg compared with that in the Aventador, is 17kg lighter yet makes more power, delivering 814bhp at a searing 9250rpm, with the limiter not calling time until 250rpm later.
The battery, which sits in what would previously have been considered the transmission tunnel, has a modest capacity of 3.8kWh, which is good for an electric-only range of around six miles.
The charging port being located in the front luggage compartment suggests that the Revuelto isn’t intended to be plugged in very often. Instead, the V12 can directly recharge the battery through the rear motor in a process that is claimed to take just six minutes.
The rear electric motor adds assistance through one shaft in the gearbox, meaning it is possible for the two sides of the Revuelto’s powertrain to be driving different gears simultaneously.
Like Lamborghini’s hyper-hybrids, the Sián FKP 37 and Countach LPI 800-4, as well as the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, the Revuelto reverses only under electrical power (which saves weight) but with the ability to drive all four wheels.
Fuel economy and CO2 emissions figures haven’t yet been finalised, but Lamborghini said they will be around 30% better than those of the final Aventador variant, the Ultimae.
The carbonfibre tub is both lighter and 40% stiffer than before and now features a composite front crash structure – a world first in a road car. However, the bulk of the hybrid system means the Revuelto is significantly heavier than the
