Key Takeaways
- Pagani is not rushing into an EV, as its focus remains on V12 hypercars due to a lack of customer interest in electric cars.
- Performance to Pagani is more than horsepower and speed, emphasizing vehicle dynamics over records.
- Pagani has only explored EV tech virtually and is prepared to innovate once technology can decrease weight penalties.
CarBuzz was in attendance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England last week, and we spoke with Christopher Pagani, son of founder Horacio and marketing director of the Italian supercar marque. We had a friendly chat at the event, discussing everything from the impact of the new Bugatti Tourbillon to the looks of the new BMW M5, but of course, our main focus was what the future holds for Pagani. After the one-off Huayra Epitome was revealed, we know we can expect special versions of the Utopia, but what else? The aforementioned Bugatti is proof that super-wealthy buyers value unique experiences above outright performance figures, so it’s safe to assume that Pagani has no interest in an all-electric hypercar. Or is it? We asked Pagani Jr. about the possibility of an EV, and his response was somewhat surprising.
“We loved working on the electric car, and we still are working on this project, so it’s not a closed chapter for us.”
– Christopher Pagani, Marketing Director of Pagani Automobili
Don’t Worry – Pagani EV Is Not Coming Soon
Despite Pagani’s enthusiasm for the potential of future electric hypercars, Christopher’s response reminds us why his father abandoned EV plans in favor of more V12 hypercars. “After all the meetings with our dealer network worldwide, there has been no interest in a [fully electric] Pagani hypercar,” said the marketing boss, adding, “We still think it’s a fun car, a fun project to build.”
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“For us, the performance is [in] the vehicle dynamics. It’s not the amount of horsepower. It’s not the top speed,” added the executive, noting that this is why Pagani does not chase records and figures, although it certainly could. Effectively, it sounds like Pagani will continue evaluating and developing electric technology, but until such time as the weight penalties can be lessened, none of its existing customer base wants to drive a characterless EV that comes across as generic.
What’s Next For Pagani?
Christopher Pagani confirmed to CarBuzz that a full-scale working prototype of its once-proposed electric supercar has never been produced and that all of the automaker’s development thus far has been in the virtual realm. This means that Pagani has not invested major funds into EV tech and can afford to watch the rest of the world make progress. Mr. Pagani does not have a crystal ball that tells him what the future holds, but whatever may come, the company knows exactly what type of automaker it wants to be.
“We’ve always tried to be innovators […] Zonda was a car with a lot of innovations [in using] composite materials, something that [had] never happened in [an] automotive scenario in the past. Huayra was the first twin-turbo hypercar, so we again worked with AMG to develop something that didn’t exist. And Utopia gave us the opportunity to go back [to] the manual gearbox.”
Mr. Pagani says that providing the manual gearbox was extremely difficult because of the high torque outputs of modern powertrains, but without it, the automaker would have fewer customers. Basically, Pagani will continue to monitor market conditions and aim to provide only what its customers want, not what the mass market dictates. With regard to future powertrains, that could someday mean an EV, but only if and when the technology becomes much more lightweight, so much so that it’s impossible to ignore.
Related
Pagani Declined 1,000-HP Hybrid V8 For Utopia
The automaker could have created something with bigger headline numbers, but the weight penalty would have been too great.
#Pagani #Hasnt #Electric #Hypercars
