World Fastest Electric Car

Electric Pininfarina Battista hypercar revealed as the most powerful production vehicle ever made.

The Pininfarina Battista electric hypercar has been revealed at the Geneva Motor Show, with its 1,873bhp making it the most powerful road-legal production vehicle ever built. Four electric motors – one on each wheel – combine to produce the headline figure, along with 2,300Nm of torque. This results in 0-62mph in under two seconds, 0-186mph in 12 seconds and a top speed of 217mph. 

 The Battista features a 120kWh, liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery, with the company targeting 280 miles of range. Only 150 examples will be sold, with prices in the region of £2 million. Automobili Pininfarina has brought three versions of the car to Geneva: a ‘Grigio Luserna’ Battista features a “dramatic” satin grey body, aluminium detailing and a dual-tone black and tan interior. Meanwhile, a second Battista showcases a design pack with “traditional Pininfarina” blue paint coupled with bonnet and wing mirror modifications. A third Battista appears on another stand; that of separate design company Pininfarina SpA. It's using the Battista to demonstrate its own specialist design services to potential clients over the course of the show.

Last month, Automobili Pininfarina announced that the Battista will be sold around the globe by a network of luxury retailers. Without dealerships of its own, the company wants to partner with “25 to 40” existing retailers to sell its £2 million electric hypercar. Pininfarina’s network consists of 16 outlets so far, including dealers in Monaco, Brussels, Hong Kong, Toronto, Los Angeles and Monaco. 

The UK should get two locations: Rybrook Cars Limited in Birmingham and H.R. Owen in London, both of whom Automobili Pininfarina is “in final discussions” with. A dozen more partners could be added worldwide over the course of 2019. “Our retail specialists fulfil the promise for us around the world and share our passion for Pininfarina’s provenance and the potential of electrification in a luxury brand,” said CEO Michael Perschke. “We believe our retail specialists will become evangelists of the brand as they take on the privilege of caring for Pininfarina cars and clients.” Previously codenamed 'PF0', the Battista is named after Battista 'Pinin' Farina, the founder of the legendary Italian styling house and now car manufacturer.

Design 

Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina once said “above all, it must be beautiful” – a philosophy that has underpinned Pininfarina for almost 90 years. It goes without saying that the Battista will need to follow the same brief, with the task being handed to design director Luca Borgogno. He believes the Battista will be “a treat for the eyes” of those heading to the Geneva Motor Show this year. “It’s like when you have a sweet, it needs to make you smile. 

It needs to make you fall in love a little bit.” As with the powertrain, opting for electric over internal combustion has an effect on the exterior of the car. Borgogno believes they need 30-40% less cooling than a petrol-powered hypercar, meaning there’s no need for the kind of grilles you’ll see on most road-going vehicles. 

 “It’s very clear in my opinion if you look at the latest hypercars, all the backs of the cars have big grilles,” he explains. “We want to have a car that’s a little bit more body, a little bit more sensual. And with an electric powertrain, right now it’s possible.”

Inside, the Battista’s interior has been designed to focus absolutely on the driver. Two touchscreens sit either side of a smaller, central display behind the wheel, allowing drivers to control the vehicle’s functions without taking their eyes away from the road. “It’s a little tricky for me to imagine these huge touchscreens that we have in our cars today,” says Borgogno. “You can imagine it on a normal car, but you still have to look somewhere else, and then move your hands very far away to touch the climate control or something like this. 

“For a car that is this fast – it’s a kind of a bullet on the road – you need to be very focused. So having them really close to your hands from a pure ergonomic point of view is really clear.” Automobili Pininfarina will use a virtual-reality system to help customers make design choices when customising their cars. The company says it’s open to anything in terms of materials and colour schemes, so every model of the Battista will be entirely unique. Such a bespoke approach is a necessity at this end of the market, and with a large portion of buyers expected to be collectors, the Battista needs to feel like a once-in-a-lifetime car.

Electrification unlocks the door to a new level of performance and a zero-emissions future, whilst a passion and respect for automotive history will define how this landmark car looks and feels, he added. “We aim for the Battista to be a future classic and automotive icon, writing its own page in automotive history books,” Perschke said. No more than 150 Battistas will be hand-crafted in Italy and allocated equally between the regions of North America, Europe and Middle East/Asia, Pininfarina said.