Lamborghini Won’t Abandon Its Best Combustion Cars Anytime Soon

The European Union is tightening emissions regulations with a goal – as of this writing – to phase out internal combustion engines by 2035. That poses a bit of a conundrum for Lamborghini. The Italian brand is renowned for its fuel-quaffing V12s. And its version of efficiency is getting the hybrid Urus SUV to a combined rating of 20 miles per gallon. Lamborghini will need to change.

And Lamborghini will change … eventually. CarBuzz interviewed Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr, who reiterated that Lamborghini’s shift toward fully electric vehicle will be a gradual process. There’s no reason to expect that the pinnacle of Lamborghini performance will be all-electric anytime soon.

The Lamborghini Lanzador EV Is Still Happening

Lamborghini previewed its first electric car with the Lanzador concept back in 2023. The Italian brand has delayed the launch, but Mohr asserts the delay is “fine-tuning” rather than a change in Lamborghini’s electrification strategy. The Lamborghini EV remains on track to arrive at the end of the decade, even if that now may technically be the start of the following decade.

“We are lucky because our strategy fits perfect to the market evolution at the moment, because we were saying that this decade is the decade of hybridization,” Mohr told CarBuzz. “The full electric car was, anyhow, an offer on top, so not a replacement. And we were saying from the beginning: ‘end of the decade.’ We are at the beginning, perhaps thinking about 2029. Now, we are, let me say, end of ’29, beginning of 2030.”

Lanzador EV Specs

It Will Be Quite A While Before A Lamborghini Halo Car Is All-Electric

Mohr believes the electrification question is not just about emissions regulations and potential taxes or city entry restrictions that local governments may implement. It’s about the future and where the industry is headed for consumers. He sees the transition happening gradually in Lamborghini’s segment, for both technical and emotional reasons. The needs of the Lamborghini buyer are not necessarily practical.

Mohr believes battery technology allows Lamborghini to do things it can’t with a pure combustion engine. Battery technology will continue to improve. And Lamborghini will enhance its use of electric power over time as technology improves and drawbacks subside.

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“Step by step, the electric part will increase, because the battery, from the energy and power density, will be even more competitive. So you can put more electric energy in the same weight, in the same space, with the better performance consistency,” explained Mohr. “You can do a lot of things – precision regarding, let me say, wheel spin control – that you cannot do with a quite laggy combustion drivetrain.”

When Will Lamborghini Build An Electric Supercar?

Mohr believes there’s still “huge potential” for deploying combustion engines and electric motors in concert. He thinks there will eventually be a point where the advantages of a full-electric motor outweigh the hybrid approach. But he does not see that happening soon, not before the mid-2030s and maybe even the 2040s.

“My forecast is, I think, earliest in the middle of the next decade.”