Automobili Pininfarina has launched an initiative to give its Battista EV hypercar clients the unique opportunity to drive a Formula E race car and taste extreme EV performance under the guidance of ex Formula 1 racer Nick Heidfeld.
Spain’s Circuit de Calafat will see Battista clients partake in the Hyperdrive event where they will take to the wheel of a range of track-prepared EVs, moving up in performance until their experience peaks at the controls of the Battista’s ‘cousin’, a Mahindra Racing Formula E race car.
Jochen Rudat, Automobili Pininfarina Chief Sales Officer, said: “We are on a mission to make the world ‘love electric’ by combining beautiful design and unprecedented performance in a range of luxury cars starting with Battista. We are breaking with convention and giving our clients the unique experience of driving track-prepared EVs and a Mahindra Racing Formula E car on Spain’s Circuit de Calafat.
“The Automobili Pininfarina Hyperdrive experience introduces a new dimension of performance to hypercar collectors and recognises the need to create new and different test drive experiences that allow guests to explore the technology of the future.”
The total sum of horsepower offered across all cars driven on the day will still not match the Battista’s planned 1,900 horsepower output. Therefore, clients will spend valuable time with the Battista development team discussing how to master all the motorsport-inspired technologies that will define their future driving experience, with production of Italy’s most powerful car in history beginning in 2020.
The Battista’s development is moving into its crucial road- and track-based programme just eight months after its reveal and with less than 12 months until production begins in Italy. The pure-electric hypercar is limited to a production run of no more than 150 bespoke examples, each hand‑built at Pininfarina’s headquarters in Cambiano near Turin. Combining visionary Italian design with cutting-edge technology – the hallmark of any classic Pininfarina car – the Battista will deliver a combination of up to 500 km range and a 0-62 mph time of under two seconds, all completely emissions-free.
Battista clients join the team on track
Automobili Pininfarina’s in-house experts are accelerating the Battista along its dynamic development journey. Channelling more than five years of Formula E experience into the Battista is the most comprehensive evidence of technology transfer from motorsport into high-performance road car development yet seen. It will inform many aspects of the car, from its carbon chassis design, through software and cooling development, to steering, throttle response and all-wheel torque vectoring, ensuring that all four driven wheels support the driver’s ambition and ability.
Led by Automobili Pininfarina’s Development Driver Nick Heidfeld and its Director of Sportscars Rene Wollmann, the expert team of development engineers will watch over every turn of the nine right-hand and seven left-hand corners. The Calafat drive experience will not just inform clients of the potential power, performance, soul and spirit of the Battista, but also inform Nick, Rene and the Battista’s development team of how clients adapt to extreme electric performance for the first time.
Nick will be on hand to discuss with every driver their own personal taste of Formula E and their expectations for the Battista. Rene will offer customers a unique front row seat to processes involved in developing the world’s first pure-electric luxury hypercar and help them understand how Automobili Pininfarina will succeed in marrying cutting-edge race technology with the highest standards in luxury and design.
Nick Heidfeld, Automobili Pininfarina Development Driver, said: “By embracing Formula E technologies proven on the racetrack and combining them in a package that will also deliver superb levels of comfort, luxury and connectivity, we aim to provide clients with a hypercar that offers both jaw-dropping performance and day-to-day driveability.
“This amazing Hyperdrive experience is just one step in the Battista customers’ intimate journey with us, and a major step towards making car enthusiasts fall in love with electric power.”
