The Pininfarina name is best known for some of the best-looking fast cars ever made, especially Ferraris. The Italian coachbuilder got itself new owners in 2015 and then in 2018 became a car manufacturer as well under the name of Automobili Pininfarina GmbH. After a few concepts, the icon has unveiled its newest creation – the Battista.
Named after the company’s founder, the Battista is an all-electric, luxury hyper GT that they will actually put into production. With the bold claim to be the most powerful Italian car made to date, the Pininfarina Battista features four electric motors(one at each wheel) that offer a combined output of 1400kW(1877bhp) of power and 2300Nm of neck-snapping torque. Claimed acceleration figures? 0 to 100kph in just under 2 seconds, onto 300kph in under 12 seconds while the top speed is said to push just past 350kph. We’ll talk more about the powertrain later, but first, let’s dig into its lovely design.
The final product was a result of the collaboration between the company design team led by Luca Borgogno and Pininfarina SpA’s team led by Design VP Carlo Bonzanigo. Each unit of the Battista will be hand-built in Cambiano, Italy. Its full carbon fibre body is curvaceous and sculptural with sweeping design flows and a high-visibility teardrop-shaped cabin. The most distinct character line actually encircles the car. It starts at the front to create the effect of a floating wing, runs alongside the flank for a curvy side profile before rising up over the rear wheel arches and around the rear wing. It is a luxury GT so of course, it features butterfly-wing style doors. It is a hyper EV so it also gets the aggressive front splitter, bonnet scoop for front-end downforce and an active rear spoiler that shoots up at high speeds and under braking. The LED strip along the nose of the Battista lends it that futuristic touch while the LED taillamps sit just under the split-layer spoiler. This style of LED lighting bucks the German trend of connected taillamps and I for one am glad to see this alternative. The positioning of the charging port is pleasingly symmetrical but it might be hard to access – at the tail-end of the rear-central body section, below the rear windscreen. Still, looks cool with the light-up Pininfarina insignia.
The cabin of the Battista is an interesting blend of luxury and minimalist design, which happens to match the exterior styling. There is a clear division between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat and a clean dashboard layout. It’s driver-centric with all three displays on that side only, two either side of the steering wheel and one small one in the middle for only the vital numbers. The left screen controls dynamic and performance settings while the right screen is used to manage the infotainment and route mapping. Following the same left-right principle of driver-centric ergonomics, there is a dial control on either side – the left dial for drive mode settings(Pura, Energica and Furiosa) and the right dial for transmission(drive, park, neutral reverse). The upholstery is plush yet intentionally simple on the unveil models. Pininfarina will allow for a wide range of personalisation to the Battista, layering colours around the dashboard and door panels in a theme that simulates the flowing lines on the exterior of the car. What that means is owners can customise the exterior colour combos as well.
Under the beautiful surface, the Battista has utilised the best resource available for building a hyper-EV. The 1400kW performance package is developed by Rimac which uses a lithium/manganese/nickel liquid-cooled 120kWh battery pack and one motor on each wheel. The Battista’s electronic brain is also from Rimac. The four-motor setup grants the benefit of torque vectoring to put down all that ridiculous power and torque down to the road along with specially developed Pirelli tyres. Apart from the performance, the powertrain is expected to offer an EV range of up to 450km.
Pininfarina has fitted the Battista with 390mm carbon-ceramic brake discs with six-piston monoblock callipers for stopping power to match the take-off capabilities. These brakes are also effective for charge re-generation. The T-shaped battery pack helps keep the centre of gravity low and maintain the ideal weight distribution for an agile driving experience. The electric motors are internal permanent magnet reduction systems which have a long life with minimal maintenance.
Only 150 units of the Pininfarina Battista will be built with deliveries starting in 2020. An official price has not been announced but it’s expected to cost around £2 million each. The Battista is the pretty alternative to a future hyper-EV with similar perfomance – the Rimac C_Two.
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