Mahindra & Mahindra, presently looking to offload loss-making Ssangyong, has much more glamorous cars in its sights, as the Pininfarina Battista electric hypercar nears production.
The new car, testing at the Nardò track, aims to be the most powerful Italian sports’ car ever produced—quite a claim in a country where Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini were founded—with a 120 kWh battery powering four electric motors, one at each wheel, for a total of 1,900 PS and torque of 2,300 Nm. Range is expected to be 500 km.
A fully developed prototype has completed its first high-speed test programme at Nardò under chief product and engineering officer Paolo Dellacha and test driver and vehicle dynamics’ engineer Georgios Syropoulos. This car has a complete luxury interior, and wears a disguise over its carbonfibre shell.
The tests, on public roads and private facilities, will fine-tune and homologate the Battista.
Syropoulos completed tests including sprints on the circular banking at Nardò’s 12·6 km ring and laps on the 6·2 km handling track.
Dellacha said, ‘This test is an exciting moment for our clients and the team at Automobili Pininfarina as we complete another phase In the development of the most powerful Italian sports car ever made. We have undertaken extensive development using advanced simulation technology, and we can now fine-tune the calibration of Battista’s bespoke chassis and pioneering four-motor torque vectoring system on road and track.’
Syropoulos added, ‘The phenomenal performance potential of the Battista is clear. Our clients will never have experienced acceleration like this before, yet giving them the opportunity to tailor their experience using a range of drive modes means this hypercar offers much more than just speed thrills. With a zero-emissions range of 500 km and sophisticated all-wheel-drive technology, every drive in Battista will be a pleasure.’
The Battista features Brembo CCMR carbon–ceramic brakes, four-motor torque vectoring, an ultra-stiff carbonfibre monocoque, seamless global roaming, and over-the-air updates. Top speed will be in excess of 350 km/h with an expected 0–100 km/h time of under 2 s, faster than a current Formula 1 racing car. Automobili Pininfarina expects it will reach 300 km/h in less than 12 s. The company has also partnered with Chargepoint, giving customers complimentary charging with the firm.
Mahindra & Mahindra licensed the Pininfarina brand name from the famed styling house, Pininfarina SpA, which will retain an ‘influential’ role over design and production. The Battista is named after Pininfarina’s founder, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina.
Dellacha is a veteran of Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, while Syropoulos has focused on EVs at Lotus, Tesla and Faraday Future.
Production at Cambiano, Italy is expected to be fewer than 150, with first deliveries in 2021.