From the atmospheric V12 to the electric supercar: luxury brands want their own rules

17 commentsTODAY WE TALK ABOUT

Subscribe to Xataka

Receive an email a day with our articles:

We are putting an end to the longest stage in automotive history. At least that is how many of us feel with the arrival of future anti-pollution regulations that will eliminate, with their demands, the possibility of manufacturing combustion engines. Goodbye to the six cylinders in line, to the V6, V8 or V12 atmospheric. The noise and the smell of gasoline. For some, the electric future will be better. For others worse. Of course it will be different.

Because assuming that, at least in Europe, the vast majority of the car park will have to be electrified to a greater or lesser extent in the coming years, supercars and super-luxury vehicles were beginning to be seen as authentic living dinosaurs to be admired or , even protect. Despite the critical voices, everything indicates that these brands will also succumb to European mobility policies.

Bentley and Lamborghini also go electric

Last May we learned that Lamborghini was making no return towards the complete electrification of its models. So they announced that in 2023 we would see their first mass-produced hybrid. Shortly after, in 2024, its entire range would be electrified. And from 2025 its first fully electric sports car would arrive.

Now, after an interview in Autocar magazine with Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of the brand, we know that the roadmap is maintained for the most part, although it will not be until 2028 when we finally see a fully electric sports car under the logo of the bull. Before that, a Lamborghini Aventador with plug-in hybridization (2023), a Urus PHEV (2024) and, without giving further details, an electrified Huracán will arrive later. In the case of the Aventador and Urus, the challenge has been greater, since they wanted to maintain the V12 and V10 mechanics, although adapting them to the new regulations.

And just as die-hard gas fans were reeling from the news, Bentley has also announced that it will become an all-electric brand. The before and after has been marked in 2026. From that year there will only be hybrid or electric models in its range and it will be from 2030 when all Bentleys are completely electric. Before that, the first all-electric Bentley will arrive in 2025, and a new zero-emissions launch every year thereafter, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

Italy against Euro 7

The decisions by Bentley and Lamborghini only have a commercial justification. The future Euro 7 regulation will not prohibit de facto combustion vehicles, but the requirements that are on the table make it difficult to think of any manufacturer continuing to offer models without electrification after its entry into force.

Although BMW announced that they will continue developing combustion engines, Audi has refused to devote effort to this type of project, considering that with the arrival of Euro 7 it will not be economically profitable. A movement that is being criticized from Italy, where the most passionate supercars are seen as the country's own heritage.

Bloomberg already reported some time ago that the Italian government is in talks with the European Union so that these manufacturers are exempt to comply with the ban on selling vehicles with combustion engines from 2035. A position that was also supported by Oliver Zipse, president of the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), who noted that "there are good arguments" to consider some exceptions for those "very small manufacturers, who in the bigger picture of total emissions play almost no role".

Louis Camilleri, CEO of Ferrari, positioned himself in the same vein in September. "I really don't see Ferrari going to be 100 per cent electric and certainly, in my lifetime, it won't even go 50 per cent. The Italian objective is that manufacturers that produce less than 10,000 vehicles a year have more benevolent environmental requirements.

What decides is the pocket

Despite the words that support the safeguarding of the combustion engines of these manufacturers, the truth is that all these brands are taking steps towards a gradual electrification of their models . And it is that their viability goes through this toll.

Currently, the European emission regulations specify that vehicles that expel more than 95 gr/km of CO2 have to pay 95 euros per gram exceeded. This calculation is made on the total volume of vehicles sold. In it, electric vehicles count twice and a minimal correction is made for the average weight of each vehicle placed on the market. This has led large manufacturers to skyrocket self-registrations of plug-in hybrids and electrics in the last quarter of 2021, as it is preferable to sell these vehicles as zero-mile cars and reduce global fines.

But the supercar and superluxury firms have to face these sanctions no matter what, since currently even their highly electrified models exceed the maximum emissions allowed. Ferrari, for example, even if it only sold models of its SF90 Stadale, a plug-in hybrid model, has to face a fine of 14,750 euros for each vehicle put on the street, since its approved CO2 emissions are 150 gr/km of CO2 . In other words, the Italian firm would face, at least, a fine of 147.5 million euros per year.

No wonder Volkswagen Group doesn't want to pay for the Bentley and Lamborghini party. Much more so when such emblematic firms in its catalog as Porsche are demonstrating their good work in the electrical field. And, in addition, we must add that within the automobile group they have been investing for years in the development of new platforms for electric vehicles that must be amortized.

If for Bentley or Lamborghini to survive we have to see their sports cars switch to electrification, there will be those who prefer that they close their factories but there will also be those who consider that scare is better than death. The history of the automobile has shown us that the red lines are to be jumped. We have already seen how the Cayenne saved Porsche's accounts and allowed it to continue manufacturing the 911. It may be time for the most emblematic firms to leave their combustion engines behind to continue delighting us with their supercars. Even if they don't make noise or smell of gasoline.

Share From atmospheric V12 to electric supercar: luxury brands want their own rules