Fans holding out hope for a Lamborghini EV to square off against the upcoming Ferrari Luce will be disappointed. The electric model, previewed by 2023’s well-received Lanzador concept and last slated for 2029 as a fourth model line for Lamborghini, won’t make it past the drawing board, the brand’s chief has finally confirmed.
In an interview with The Sunday Times published over the weekend, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said the automaker ultimately decided to pull the plug after a year-long internal debate. The reason? Tepid demand. He even summed up the current state of EV efforts at Lamborghini as little more than an “expensive hobby.”
How The Market Has Shifted
Stephan Winkelmann With Lamborghini Lanzador ConceptLamborghini
The news hardly comes as a shock. Just a few years ago, plenty of automakers were charging headlong into an all-electric future; now most are easing off the throttle. Lamborghini had already signaled hesitation as far back as 2024, when it announced the Lanzador’s debut would slip a year from its original 2028 target, citing electric supercars that simply weren’t ready for prime time, whether measured by customer demand or the state of the tech itself. In recent months, the company had already been dropping increasingly strong hints that the EV might be shelved altogether.
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In his interview with The Sunday Times, Winkelmann said adoption rates for EVs in Lamborghini’s target market were flattening and drifting “close to zero.” He added that buyers still crave an “emotional experience,” something EVs struggle to deliver, especially when there’s no soundtrack. The thunderous bark of a Lamborghini V8 or V12 remains one of the brand’s most persuasive selling points, after all.
Photos of the Lamborghini Lanzador ConceptCarBuzz/Valnet
Even Mate Rimac, CEO and founder of EV technology firm Rimac Group, struck a similar note at 2024’s Financial Times Future of the Car conference in London. He acknowledged that high-end buyers lean toward a more emotive, more analog experience, and pointed to the lukewarm demand for his own Nevera electric hypercar, launched in 2021 with a limited run of just 150 units and not sold out, even today.
Several key regulatory shifts have also made it easier for automakers to stick with internal-combustion power, especially in the US. For example, the federal EV tax credit was eliminated and fines for missing emissions targets were wiped out last year, while this month’s repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which addresses the risks tied to certain greenhouse gases, further eased the pressure. Across the Atlantic, Europe’s planned 2035 ban on new combustion engines is also effectively dead.
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Lanzador Could Still Come With A Plug
Photos of the Lamborghini Lanzador ConceptCarBuzz/Valnet
The good news for fans of the Lanzador’s stunning design is that the concept remains on track for production before 2030, just not as a pure EV. Instead, it will arrive with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, according to Winkelmann, who reiterated that he wants Lamborghini to keep internal-combustion engines alive for as long as possible.
The Lanzador is a high riding coupe with 2+2 seating, and its underpinnings will likely be shared with the next-generation Urus. That SUV was also once slated to go fully electric but now appears destined for plug-in hybrid duty as well. As for whether Lamborghini will eventually field a true EV, Winkelmann said it will happen, but only when market conditions are right.
Source: The Sunday Times
