There are a few essential elements to any Lamborghini supercar. You need an outlandish design, a vibrant paint scheme and a roaring engine at the back — ideally, nothing smaller than a V10. And that’s a formula that the company seems reluctant to stray from as electrification takes hold of the industry.
As such, the Italian carmaker has launched its own research division to investigate synthetic fuels for use in its future models. This isn’t to be confused with the synthetic fuels being designed by VW stablemate Porsche; they’re two entirely separate projects. Oh VW.
According to Drive, while Lamborghini will unveil its first hybrid model in the coming years, the company hopes to keep its V10- and V12-powered cars running on synthetic fuels in the future. The site reports:
“Lamborghini has joined the race to develop environmentally-friendly synthetic fuels – pitched as carbon neutral, with cars only emitting CO2 that has already been removed from the environment – in response to customer demand, to help its petrol engines to live on into the electric future.”
In an interview with the site, Lamborghini’s Asia Pacific region director, Francesco Scardaoni, explained that the research was all about “keeping the door open for internal-combustion engines.”
By 2028, Scardaoni suggests that Lamborghini will have a lineup of pure electric models and hybrid cars that use synthetic fuels. This, they say, will help retain the “pure DNA of super-sports cars for Lamborghini.”
Despite similar research already ongoing at Porsche, the Drive reports that the Lamborghini project will be kept separate from its VW sibling.
Scardaoni said: “We’re running on [a] parallel path right now. We are investing on our own synthetic fuel channel and Porsche is doing as well … We wanted to have our own way to design and develop this potential way to keep our engines alive.”
There’s no word yet on the steps Lamborghini will take to develop its synthetic fuels. At Porsche, it has invested in a fuel startup that is working to create gas for its cars through carbon-capture.
This process takes in carbon from the atmosphere and combines it with hydrogen that has been created using electrolysis powered by renewable sources. This means that when the synthetic gas is burned in the engine, it is releasing back the same carbon that was extracted from the air in its production.
If Lamborghini does want to keep its V10- and V12-powered cars on the road, it’ll need to investigate a similarly circular approach to fueling its cars. And, if it does crack the case, it sounds like its fuels of the future will be used to power Lamborghini’s hybrid cars of tomorrow.
Scardaoni added: “The beauty of having a hybrid system is also to still have the sound of the engine. This of course will be a bridge into a new era that can be either electrified or with synthetic fuel.”
We need change across the industry if we want to keep driving exciting cars like Lamborghinis. So developments like this can only be a good thing for the future of driving.