At Monterey Car Week 2023, Lamborghini unveiled a vision of a future all-electric fourth production model. It calls the Lanzador concept a high-ground-clearance Ultra GT and a 2+2 with an “unprecedented” onboard experience and “best-in-class sportiveness.” The concept fits in with the brand’s “Direzione Cor Tauri” strategy and roadmap of decarbonization and electrification announced in 2021 that commits to at least halving its CO2 emissions from 2025.

“With the fourth model concept, we are opening a new car segment: the Ultra GT,” said Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. “The concept for our fourth production model leverages our philosophy of super sportiness combined with brave new technologies and fearless design, perfectly fitting into our Direzione Cor Tauri strategy.”

Lamborghini explains that “Cor Tauri” is Latin for bull’s heart and the name of the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, which shows Lamborghini the way to an electrified future while remaining true to the heart and soul of the brand. It plans to “electrify” its entire product range by the end of 2024,  investing more than €1.9 billion over four years for the conversion to hybrid technology.

Lamborghini calls the Lanzador concept, which follows the V12 plug-in hybrid Revuelto, a technical demonstrator and a refined “laboratory on wheels” in terms of sustainable materials. The brand promises that the production version will deliver extraordinary performance from 2028 and will be at the forefront of its segment. It will join a Lamborghini portfolio incorporating super sports cars with hybrid engines, with the next-generation Urus being a plug-in hybrid.

“For us, the fourth model is the absolutely logical extension of the existing portfolio—the perfect link between Urus and our super sports cars,” said Winkelmann.

Lamborghini says the concept has a high-specific-power electric motor on each axle that ensures permanent all-electric drive “for every condition, surface, and driving style” and a peak power of over 1 MW. The all-wheel drive offers active e-torque vectoring on the rear axle for dynamic cornering behavior. The energy is provided by a new generation high-performance battery, which also ensures a long range.

 

Ultra GT design and sustainability

Lamborghini says that the concept’s new proportions represent a new car segment—the Ultra GT—inspired by spaceships. Mitja Borkert, Head of Design Lamborghini, describes the concept’s starting point being a super sports car, taking it forward with a true pilot’s driving position inspired also by the Huracán Sterrato.

The exterior is inspired by Lamborghini models like the Sesto Elemento, Murciélago, and Countach LPI 800-4, with the side view continuing the brand’s single silhouette line with a roof height of around 1.5 m. The lower portion is shaped by aerodynamics, integrating movable, yet integrated, components found in its super sports cars.

The interior layout follows the “feel like a pilot” design philosophy of Lamborghini combined with the spaceship theme. Its 2+2 lifestyle concept means that the rear cabin can be used for people or for carrying sports equipment or luggage.

The concept’s slim headlights take inspiration from the Countach LPI 800-4. Other details include a trunk under the short and steeply sloping front hood, a large wide-opening glass tailgate, adjustable rear seats, and a variable luggage compartment in the rear.

Typical Lamborghini stylistic elements such as the Y and the hexagon can be found throughout the car. The hexagonal-shaped taillights feature three LED elements on each side.

“The Lanzador presents supers sports car volumes but with the pilot in a slightly higher position, echoing that of the Huracán Sterrato,” said Borkert. “It is designed for a new generation growing up in an era of high tech and digitalization, and [it] demonstrates new and fresh ideas within Lamborghini in terms of our approach to authentically integrating sustainability via an interior delivering more space and using innovative materials.”

 

More sustainable interior

The interior’s “pilot position” features a slim and lightweight dashboard with a large Y-shape used for the center console bridge. Both pilot and co-pilot sit low within the cabin “as if in a jet.” In the center console is a pilot’s unit for control of the entertainment system, climate control, and new digital functions. Passengers receive information via automatically retractable displays. The driver can switch between driving modes, including Efficiency and Performance, using the Lamborghini ANIMA controls.

The concept elevates Lamborghini to a new level of sustainability with an interior “made almost entirely” of sustainable materials—all made in Italy. It features high-end, biodegradable, and soft wool from Australian Merino sheep on the dashboard, seats, and door panels.

As Lamborghini explains it, every year, sheep grow a new fleece, making wool a completely renewable fiber, unlike synthetic fabrics that are industrially produced from non-renewable fossil energy. The material is imported to Europe once a year, and by ship, which reduces the carbon footprint. It is then made by the only Italian fabric company B-corporation certified.

A more sustainable leather is used, tanned in an environmentally friendly method with residual water from olive oil production that otherwise would have to be treated in waste-water treatment plants due to its high acidity and antimicrobial and phytotoxic effect.

Regenerated carbon is used extensively inside, for instance on the center console and door panels, with a new, two-layer composite material developed by Lamborghini. The new lay-up approach is based on an aesthetic visible layer and several inner structural layers.

For the aesthetic layer, several kinds of fibers are under development including some that are interwoven with the carbon, retaining the technical properties of carbon while reducing its use. For the inner layers, Lamborghini worked on core mat materials of recycled carbon or an alternative foam made of recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Both aesthetical and structural layers are combined with a bio-based resin system, enhancing sustainability.

On many interior components of the concept, Lamborghini uses a new type of synthetic yarn car that is partly made from recycled plastic recovered from oceans. It is finely shredded, washed, dried, pressed, and processed into thin nylon threads. The big advantage is that the material can always be reused and passes through the production cycle several times.

Many non-visible plastics, such as the foam of the sports seats, are made of 3D-printed recycled fibers using a new FDM (fused deposition modeling) printing material made from recycled plastic bottle waste. It is ideal as a base material for 3D-printed seat foam used under fabrics due to its good mechanical, thermal, and chemical resistance. The proportion of recycled material can be between 45% and 100%, depending on the origin of the waste, and the material can be recycled after its useful life.

 

Driving dynamics control, active aerodynamics, and active suspension

“For us, electrification does not mean a restriction, but an intelligent opportunity to develop more performance and drivability,” said Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini’s Chief Technical Officer.

He says that Lamborghini will define and differentiate itself in the future through a strategy of all active-control systems.

“We are taking Lamborghini integrated driving dynamics control to a whole new level…” he said. “Finding the right balance between power, performance, range, and aerodynamics is certainly one of the biggest challenges during development.”

The driver will be able to adjust systems while driving via steering wheel controls to actively influence the car’s behavior. Three control systems will be crucial to future Lamborghinis: driving dynamics control, active aerodynamics, and active suspension.

With the new Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata (LDVI) driving dynamics control system, the company promises that significantly more sensors and actuators will be integrated in the future to create even finer and more precise driving behavior, with crucial innovation not only in hardware but also in control algorithms. The more sensors and data fed to the control system the more refined the algorithm is in delivering the nuances of driving sensation and feedback, allowing the driving character to be more precisely tailored to the individual driver.

Lamborghini says that active aerodynamics play an even greater role in battery electric vehicles than in super sports cars, increasing the range per battery charge while also improving performance. The brand’s future “Vision of Smart Aerodynamics” is highlighted on the Lanzador, with the aim of adapting aero to each driving situation consistent with driver requests and range needs. Downforce for higher cornering speeds and the lowest possible air resistance at top speed can be variably adjusted on the concept for optimal performance in each case.

The smart aerodynamics incorporate the ALA (Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva) system used in the Huracán Performante and Aventador SVJ. New active aero devices ensure the best efficiency in the concept car’s Urban mode and the best downforce in Performance mode.

A front air shutter and a movable splitter open brake cooling ducts and vanes to achieve the best performance. This S-Duct, with concealed louvers for wheelhouse ventilation and air curtain, improves downforce depending on the mode set: Efficient or Downforce. The air outlets prevent pressure in the wheel arches from lifting the front at high speeds. The louvers provide downforce without creating additional drag.

The 23-inch wheels combine hexagonal elements with aero blades to minimize turbulence.

At the rear, narrow air blades extend out of the sides and from the diffuser to improve aerodynamic downforce in conjunction with the flow-through rear “blown” spoiler. In Efficient mode, the laminar flow remains against the body over its full length until it breaks off at the rear. The ALA system increases pressure recuperation to the back, significantly reducing drag and increasing efficiency.

An active chassis including a steerable rear axle and air suspension allows the Lanzador to balance the road situation and driver-defined settings via controls on the steering wheel. For enhanced driving dynamics, a controller calculates the torque for each axle individually, with the two motors serving the left and right sides on the rear axle. Wheel-speed control finely regulates individual wheels for precise turn-in.

“The combination of these systems raises the driving behavior of the concept car to a new level compared to a super sports car with a combustion engine: it is an electric, super-intelligent Ultra GT,” concluded Mohr.