Lamborghini Urus SUV “will be going to electric”

“Sooner or later the Urus will be going to electric,” Lamborghini’s design chief Mitja Borkert told Drive – before walking it back.

An all-electric variant of the Lamborghini Urus is on the way, the Italian marque’s head of design Mitja Borkert has confirmed – and then unconfirmed – to Drive.

It’s unlikely the current generation of Lamborghini’s first SUV will be offered with zero-emission power, however a replacement due sometime after 2028 may ditch internal combustion entirely.  

“[Electric cars are] the future, be we have to decide when, in which market, and in the segments it makes sense,” Mr Borkert revealed during a media event.

“Our interpretation is that probably the more versatile and daily use cars such as the Urus – for sure, they will be the first fully electrified compared to the pure super sport cars.”

When asked if this was explicit confirmation the Lamborghini Urus SUV is set to shift to an electric platform for the next generation, Borkert initially agreed.

“Sooner or later the Urus will be going to electric … to be honest, the regulations in the world and also the social acceptance – the trend is going in this way for sure.”

However, he subsequently walked the claim back: “I’m not saying right now that the Urus successor is going electric, but for these kinds of cars electrification makes more sense.”

The current Urus is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine, sending 478kW/850Nm to all four wheels via an eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.

This allows the benchmark 0-100km/h sprint to be completed in a claimed 3.6 seconds, on the way to a top speed of approximately 305km/h.

An electric successor would likely be quicker again; the Tesla Model X Plaid completes the same dash in a claimed 2.6 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 262km/h.

The next-generation Urus will likely follow a yet-to-be-named high-riding electric crossover due later this decade, revealed earlier this year to Drive by CEO Stephan Winkelmann.

“In terms of design, it has to be a GT but a very modern approach on a GT car, and it should have … also the safety feeling and the peace of mind feeling what a car with a higher ground clearance has,” Mr Winkelmann said.

“This is the idea we are going to have, or we are having, with the difference between this car and Urus, which is … a four door car.”

Meanwhile, Mitja Borkert said the marque will continue with some form of internal combustion engines in its supercar range for as possible.

“People at the moment are still trained that V10 is emotional, but I don’t know if in forty years the young kids will still be happy with this.

“At the moment I haven’t found [an electric] model on the market where I say it is fit to a Lamborghini request … but we have ideas.

“I’m also someone who is in love with the combustion engine, but I’m not fearing the move to electric.”

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