In 2015, Mahindra & Mahindra had acquired Automobili Pininfarina, paying $185 million (approx ₹1,240 crores) for the Italian automobile designing company known for its work for some of the best brands such as Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo and Cadillac.
Fast forward to 2019, we got to see the first outcome of the acquisition in the form of Pininfarina Battista — an electric "hypercar" — at the Geneva Motor Show. The name of the electric vehicle (EV) is a tribute to the company's founder Battista Pininfarina. The Mahindra-owned company has managed to create one of the fastest EVs on the planet.
Two years after the Battista was unveiled, Pininfarina will officially launch the Battista hyper GT at the upcoming Monterey Car Week (in the US) to be held between August 12 and August 15.
Let's take a look at everything we know about the super EV.
The Battista uses four electric motors dedicated to each wheel to create a total output of 1,400kW (kilowatt), which is equivalent to 1,900 horsepower (bhp).
It draws power from a 120 kWh (kilowatt-hour) battery, whereas to put things in perspective, the Tesla Model S and Model X use a 100 kWh battery. Note that it doesn't directly define how far can it go on a single charge as factors like power, motor efficiency also come into play.
The car generates 2,300 Nm (Newton metres) of torque and can go from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour (kmph) in just 2 seconds. Not just that, it claims a wild top speed of 350 km (217 miles) per hour, which is faster than many fuel-based supercars. For example, the Ferrari 812 Superfast claims that it can go about 340 km (211 miles) per hour at top speed.
The acceleration of the Battista is controlled by 390mm carbon-ceramic disc brakes with 6-piston callipers on all four wheels.
With all of that under the hood, the Battista claims to last about 450 km (280 miles) on a single charge.
Thankfully, to achieve that high speed, the manufacturer has not cut down on the features to keep the weight low.
The Battista has an impressive interior as well. It's an electric luxury car, so it comes with quilted seats, three-driver side screens, a premium dashboard and much more. Even on the outside, the production model is said to sport carbon-fibre body panels and matching black wheels, upholstery and interior trim elements.
The Pininfarina Battista will go on sale in early 2022, and it costs more than $2.2 million (approx ₹17 crores).
Mahindra’s future EVs might get the Battista genes
Mahindra has not yet confirmed its plans of launching a commercial EV in India yet, but in an interview with CNBC TV18, the company's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Anish Shah said that they're outlining the strategy for EVs in the country. Giving Battista's example, he said Mahindra's EV tech outside India is great, and it will soon come to India.
He said that Battista is a limited edition model and only 125 models will be made, however, Automobili Pininfarina chief earlier said they’ll be making 150 models.
Pininfarina is working to release more electric vehicles by 2025, which might be a sign that we may soon see Battista's genes flowing down to more affordable models, and then slowly into the Indian market as and when it's ready with a more reliable EV infrastructure
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