Pininfarina's $2 million Battista hyper-EV debuts in Geneva
The first production car from the new Italian car company is super-fast and super-expensive.
Italian car company Automobili Pininfarina is showing off its first production car at the Geneva Motor Show: the drop-dead gorgeous Battista, which is an electric grand tourer. Named after Battista "Pinin" Farina, the founder of the Carrozzeria Pininfarina coachbuilding company, the luxury hypercar will produce 1,900 horsepower and an incredible 1,696 pound-feet of torque from its 120-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack.
Go-go juice is sent to four electric motors, one on each wheel, that can scoot the Battista from a standstill to 62 miles per hour in under 2 seconds. The GT can allegedly hit 186 mph in less than 12 seconds and has a top speed of 217 mph. My tummy is doing flippity flops just thinking about it.
The company says the Battista has a range of 280 miles on a single charge, but I imagine that's without foolishly burning through electrons for all those top-speed shenanigans.
As you'd expect, the Battista sports a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis as well as a full carbon-fiber body. Butterfly doors provide the way inside, and an active wing provides downforce and acts as an air brake to supplement the huge, six-piston, carbon-ceramic brakes.
Inside, you'll find two large screens on either side of the steering wheel displaying performance specs, media and navigation, and a smaller screen front and center for vital information. The interior can be fully customized with your favorite color and materials and, in a nod to practicality, you even get a cup holder. What luxury!
Drivers will be able to design their own sound profile from silence to "bespoke aural experiences." Whether that means you can set AC/DC as your required-by-law audible presence or if it will be an amplification of the whirring electric motors remains to be seen.
The car will go on sale in the second half of 2020 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Pininfarina SpA design house. Since 1930, the company has helped produce some of the most beautiful vehicles the world has ever seen. Now with the advent of its own manufacturing company, Pininfarina says the Battista is the first of a future range of luxury EVs.
Only 150 Battistas will be manufactured and are destined for North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It's expected to cost between $2 and $2.5 million, so start saving your pennies.