Lamborghini sticks with thundering gasoline engines as the world buys EVs

Résumé détaillé

The Italian sports carmaker is happy to let rival Ferrari make pure electric machines

The launch in May of Ferrari’s first all-electric car, the Luce, made sports car purists cringe. The car didn’t roar; it hummed. Some said it looked like a vacuum cleaner. Former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said the machine risked “destroying a myth” and hoped the company would remove the iconic prancing horse badge from the Luce’s hood.

Rival Italian sports carmaker Lamborghini has no intention of allowing pure electric vehicles to dilute its image. For “Lambo,” as it’s known, snarling V8 and V12 gasoline engines are forever – or at least until a technology comes around that does not sacrifice the thrilling Lamborghini driving experience.

BMW’s heavily refreshed 7 Series provides a Rolls-Royce experience at a fraction of the cost

Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini’s German-born, Italian-raised chief executive officer, said that performance is about more than breakneck acceleration. The formula is “fun to drive, the sound, the responsiveness.” In other words, an EV doesn’t make the cut.

Lamborghini’s next vehicle will launch in Los Angeles on Nov. 18. Nothing has been revealed about the car. All that is known is that – true to form – it will be powered by a V8 or V12 engine.

Carmakers everywhere are struggling with electrification. While the market share of EVs is rising, especially in Europe and China, some manufacturers overestimated the take-up, underestimated the pivot to hybrids (which combine battery and gasoline engines) and got hit by governments withdrawing EV-purchase incentives.

Through early 2026, global automakers collectively took tens of billions of dollars in writedown on their EV projects. In February, Stellantis, whose brands include Dodge, Fiat and Citroen, took a US$26-billion writedown on its electrification plans and rolled back its EV launches. Volkswagen, Lamborghini’s owner, took a US$6-billion writedown, delayed the development of some Porsche EVs and extended the life of a few gasoline-powered models.

Lamborghini is sticking with…

So…

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