Automobili Pininfarina has announced that the name of the first car in its planned luxury electric vehicle portfolio will be Pininfarina Battista. Named after Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, the founder of the
Carrozzeria Pininfarina coach building company that he started in 1930, the
all-electric hypercar will be designed and hand-built in very limited numbers
at Pininfarina SpA under the watchful eye of Paulo Pininfarina, Battista’s
grandson and current Pininfarina SpA Chairman.
PininfarinaSpA
is one of the world’s leading automotive design and specialist production
companies, now under the ownership of Mahindra & Mahindra, and this
announcement was made at Mahindra’s annual Leadership Symposium held at
Pininfarina SpA’s headquarters in Cambiano, Italy. Paolo Pininfarina shook
hands with Mahindra& Mahindra’s Chairman, Anand Mahindra, and Michael
Perschke, CEO Automobili Pininfarina,to confirm that the limited-edition
hypercars would take his grandfather’s first name.
Paolo
Pininfarina, Chairman Pininfarina SpA, said: “This is genuinely a dream come
true. My grandfather always had the vision that one day there would be a
stand-alone range of Pininfarina-branded cars. This hypercar will boast
world-beating performance, technology innovation and of course elegant styling.
For me, we simply had to call it Battista. His dream becomes reality today as
we link our glorious past with the future of motoring.”
Anand
Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra, said: “We are really proud and
grateful that Paolo and his family have allowed Battista’s name to be given to
what will be a beautiful, elegant and technologically game-changing car. That
is so appropriate for a car branded Pininfarina as these are core elements that
have defined Pininfarina’s legendary automotive design for nearly 90 years. Now
we hope to respectfully work with that legacy and deliver a stunning car that
is worthy of his name.”
With
an ambition to be the world’s first fully-electric luxury hypercar, and the
fastest and most powerful Italian-built car, extreme levels of technology and
functional design lie beneath the Battista’s carbon fibre exterior, supporting
the delivery of staggering performance for a road car. Power and torque equate
to 1,900 bhp and 2,300 Nm respectively, meaning the Battista has the potential
to accelerate to 62 mph in less than two seconds, faster than a Formula 1 car,
and break the 250 mph top speed barrier – all with a potential zero emissions
range of over 300 miles.
Automobili
Pininfarinahas confirmed a €20 million investment in a new partnership with
Pininfarina SpA. The investment underpins design, development and production of
the Pininfarina Battista and the future range of Automobili Pininfarina cars at Pininfarina SpA. It
followed an announcement in September of Automobili Pininfarina’s
multi-million-euro commercial partnership with Rimac Automobili, the world’s
leading electric powertrain and battery supplier to premium and luxury
automotive brands.
Following
an intense period of private viewings at potential luxury car retail partner
dealerships and classic motoring events across the USA and Europe over recent
months, the Battista prototype will continue to tour European cities prior to
its Geneva reveal. No more than150 Automobili Pininfarina Battistas will be
available from late-2020 at a price estimated between US$2m and US$2.5m. Fifty
cars are currently allocated to the USA, 50 in Europe and 50 for the Middle
East and Asia region, but initial feedback in the USA and Europe indicates that
demand will outstrip supply, therefore allocations will be flexible.
Source: Mahindra & Mahindra /
Automobili Pininfarina