Lamborghini LB744: Aventador successor is 1000bhp PHEV
The LB744 will combine a V12 with three electric motors, producing a combined 987bhp
New supercar mates a lighter V12 engine with a trio of electric motors to become most powerful Lambo yet
Lamborghini's first plug-in hybrid supercar, which will replace the Lamborghini Aventador, will have a new V12 engine supplemented by three electric motors, producing a combined near-1000bhp, making it the most potent Lambo yet made.
The supercar, codenamed LB744, ushers in a new electrification era for the italian marque, whilst also allowing its signature V12 engine to “live on”, rather than being killed off by increasingly strict emissions regulations.
This new, lighter 6.5-litre V12 is key to the PHEV’s performance, said Lamborghini, which has also paid significant attention to the way it sounds. It weighs in at 218kg, 17kg less than the Aventador’s V12, while still producing 803bhp at 9250rpm and 535lb ft at 6750rpm.
This allows the three 18.5kg motors – two driving the front axle, and one gearbox-mounted driving the rear – to be fitted with minimal impact of weight (a total figure is yet to be given) and therefore performance, with a combined output of 987bhp. The unit also emits 30% less CO2 emissions than the Aventador Ultimae's 769bhp powerplant.
Those motors also boost low-end torque, with 258lb ft immediately available. Although acceleration figures have yet to be confirmed, this will give the LB744 blistering off-line speed, likely with numbers close to the special-edition Lamborghini Veneno, which can hit 60mph from standing in just 2.9sec.
Electric power is drawn from a 3.8kWh lithium ion battery, mounted within the transmission tunnel to keep the car’s centre of gravity as low as possible. It can be charged either through an external 7kW current, which takes 30 minutes, or by a combination of regenerative braking and the petrol engine, which Lamborghini claims takes as little as six minutes.
The LB744 even has the ability to run solely on electric power, driving the front wheels when cruising, and all four wheels when the power is asked for (depending on drive mode). However, given the battery’s small size, EV range isn’t expected to be more than five miles.
As this battery takes up the room normally used by the gearbox, a new smaller one was developed. The LB744’s compact eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission – which measures just 56cm long and 75cm wide and weighs 193kg – is positioned behind the V12, also aiding weight distribution.
The LB744 will be only the second Lamborghini road-going car to be fitted with a transversely mounted gearbox, after the iconic Miura of 1966.
It uses a different setup to limited-run Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 and Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 hyper-hybrids, which had a supercapacitor in a mild-hybrid system, boosting power without the ability to run on electricity alone, bar in reverse gear – a trait the LB744 adopts.
More details will be released on the Aventador’s replacement in the coming weeks, but it will be “completely new from the ground up”, chief technical officer Rouven Mohr previously told Autocar.
Confirming this will be the case for the also-upcoming follow-up to the Huracán, he said: “There’s no carry-over from any car. From the model point of view, all relevant modules, meaning engine, gearbox, drivetrain or whatever, everything is new.”
Mohr added: “You can be sure the car will not be a disappointment regarding the emotions. We will fulfil the regulations, but we will [also] improve the emotions. I can guarantee that.”
