This is the Pininfarina Battista,
a hypercar that's had a good, long studious look at the hypercar manual,
and then torn it to pieces with its teeth.
To say this thing is slightly deranged
might be a little bit of an understatement.
What we're looking at here is what Pininfarina calls
the world's first pure electric luxury Hyper-GT.
It'll go up against the likes of the forthcoming Rimac Concept Two,
Tesla Roadster, hybrids like the McLaren Speedtail,
and if we're talking about power, I don't know, God?
I think I'll get straight to the numbers because everything else
kind of pales in insignificance.
Power, 1900 horses.
Torque, 2300 Newton-meters.
Emissions, none.
It's difficult to wrap your head around those kinds of numbers,
but I'll put it another way,
This is a road car with almost twice the power of a Formula One racing car,
more than three times the torque of a McLaren F1,
and the same environmental footprint as a Nissan LEAF.
Now, Pininfarina are saying acceleration is going to be savage.
Nought to 60 in under two seconds,
That's F1 level of acceleration.
Nought to 186 miles per hour will take 12 seconds,
quicker than a McLaren Speedtail,
and it will have a V-max just north of 217 miles per hour.
You just don't see those kinds of numbers on a normal road car,
and there's a reason for that.
They're just not possible using an internal combustion engine.
Pininfarina say, "If you want this kind of acceleration, you have to go electric.
Under the skin, they have used a big
T-shaped lithium-manganese nickel battery pack
with a 120-kilowatt-hour capacity,
supplied by the guys and girls at Rimac.
It's essentially the same unit you get in a Rimac Concept Two,
and it's big enough for a range of 450 kilometers.
That battery pack feeds electrons
to four separate electric motors, one for each wheel.
As you'd expect, this allows for torque vectoring.
The car can intelligently send more or less power to each wheel
independently to aid handling,
or hypothetically switch between rear-wheel drive
and all-wheel drive to suit your taste.
Those motors deliver instant torque.
So much torque and so instantly
that most of this car's driving modes
actually limit the amount of torque you have available
in order to give the driver a little bit of thinking space
before the car launches you into the next postcode.
As for noise, well, they're promising it won't be completely silent.
Pininfarina say you'll not only hear the motors,
but they're also working on an artificial sound
that fits the car's personality.
Think Tron 2.0.
Those motors also provide an element of energy recuperation through braking,
but Pininfarina hasn't cheaped out on the traditional brakes.
Here, they've installed massive 390 mm carbon ceramic discs
attached to six-pot calipers
So the Battista should stop just as violently as it accelerates.
I wanted to get the numbers out of the way first
because they're so ludicrous.
But the design is very important, because design
is what Pininfarina is most famous for.
The company made its name styling
some of the most iconic cars on the planet,
not to mention a few not-so-iconic ones.
If you remember the Hyundai Matrix, you'll know what I'm taking about.
Pininfarina has kept the finest piece of design for themselves, though.
This thing is genuinely stunning.
There's a lot going on here.
I can almost see little bits of Ferrari influence towards the front,
maybe a touch of McLaren 720S in this teardrop-shaped roof section.
And I can almost see a little bit of BMW i8 here
going on towards the rear.
The body is made entirely of carbon fiber,
on top of which we have this sweeping teardrop-shaped glass canopy.
At the front, you'll see a single dynamic LED light strip
between the headlights used as a DRL and indicator,
below which you'll find a smattering of passive aerodynamic extras.
At the side, the designers have gone for quite a sensual
but well-sculpted look. Let's start with these wing mirrors.
Now, these are actually functional aero devices.
They funnel air along the side of the car
and into these vents, feeding the radiators.
Air also flows over the top of the car and onto the split rear spoiler.
Now, naturally, this is an active unit that provides three levels of downforce
and also acts as an air brake.
Now, let's talk doors.
This wouldn't be a pure electric luxury Hyper-GT
if it didn't have silly doors, right?
And luckily, this has some of the silliest in the business. Check this out.
Butterfly doors. Very cool.
And these are hinged on the roof itself to give you an even larger opening
to help you get in and out more easily.
Speaking of which, it would be rude not to.
Oh, yes.
I could get used to this.
Screens everywhere. Leather. Lots of buttons I want to press.
The whole thing is designed around the vanishing point concept.
Now, I don't know exactly what that means, but what I can see
is that there are three primary displays.
On the left-hand side, we have a screen showing
all your driving dynamics and car settings.
On the right-hand side, we have your media and your sat nav.
and in the center, all your vital information,
including your gears and what speed you are doing.
As for buttons, well, it's a very minimalist design.
There aren't too many in here, but on the left-hand side,
we do get a drive-mode selector which can let you select Pura,
Energica, and the most violent mode of all, Furiosa.
Plus in the center, we have your gear selector switch essentially
which puts you in drive, neutral, park, or reverse.
The whole thing, upholstery-wise,
can be customized to within inch of this car's life,
which is another carrot that Pininfarina
is dangling in front of prospective buyers.
Pininfarina's objective with the Battista
is to create a blank canvas and work with customers
to create something that reflects their individual personalities.
You'll probably never see two Battistas that look the same,
but they should all look incredibly cool, whether it's this matte gray
with blue accents and aluminum detailing, that's my favorite.
Or the Pininfarina Blue with chrome highlights.
Actually, that's my favorite.
Or the Pura pearlescent white. Classic, understated,
striking, and also my favorite.
It's all very lovely and all very exclusive as you might expect.
Only 150 examples will be built,
which means that by the time the car is released in 2020,
many of us might not actually get a chance to see one in the carbon,
which will be a massive shame because it is just beautiful.
Now, in terms of pricing, Pininfarina haven't yet announced a figure.
But if you got to ask,
you might be better off shopping around for something like a BMW i3.
Elon, your move, buddy.