2019 Automobili Pininfarina Battista

The Pininfarina Battista will set new standards in performance and desirability for an electric car. It will be the first poster car for the EV-generation and the halo model for a range of luxury electric cars from Automobili Pininfarina. It is more than simply a new car reveal, but a pivotal moment in time for the new automotive environment: the first zero-emissions, Italian luxury car.

The Pininfarina Battista: An Introduction

The Battista seeks to break new ground in the history of automotive when it arrives in 2020. Named after Battista 'Pinin' Farina, who founded the Carrozzeria Pininfarina coachbuilding company in 1930, the all-electric hyper GT will be designed and hand-built in very limited numbers at Pininfarina SpA under the watchful eye of Paolo Pininfarina, Battista's grandson and current Pininfarina SpA Chairman. The Battista, appropriately enough, will be the most powerful road-legal car ever designed and produced in Italy.

A carbon fibre monocoque chassis and visually stunning carbon fibre body provide the foundation and visual definition for the extreme levels of technology and functional, elegant driver-focused design solutions at the heart of the hypercar.

The result will be staggering performance for a road car: power and torque of 1,900 hp and 2,300 Nm, providing acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in less than two seconds (faster than a current Formula 1 car), 300 km/h in less than 12 seconds and the ability to achieve a top speed of up to 350 km/h. All with a potential zero-emissions range of up to 450 kilometres and an extreme focus on drivability.

The weight distribution of the T-shaped 120 kWh battery pack is configured to optimise the Battista's dynamic potential, with four motors independently distributing torque and power to each wheel, delivering all the benefits of modern torque vectoring. Cooling circuits and systems are based around five radiators.

Whilst the car's electronic brain serves up a thrilling new experience in dynamic driving, its braking system offers the back-up to that performance. Massive, carbon-ceramic 6-piston brakes (390 mm at the front and 390 mm at the rear) provide fade-free deceleration and hugely effective brake regeneration to the battery will be engineered into the system. The active rear wing features an air brake function.

The Battista's suspension is tuned specifically to deliver a thrilling, engaging and yet comfortable dynamic experience. The driver will be able to electronically adjust the dynamic experience through multiple modes tuned to a range of driving scenarios and will also be able to tailor the noise the 1,900 hp car makes - the Battista's on-board sound programme will focus on using vehicle hardware to generate acoustic entertainment, rather than generate artificial sounds.

Inspired by, and paying homage to, famous Pininfarina designs such as the Cisitalia 202, Ferrari Dino Berlinetta Speciale, Ferrari Modulo, and Sintesi concept cars - each ahead of its time and instantly influential when presented - the Battista will feature classic Pininfarina design cues and a unique blend of beauty and technological innovation in perfect balance. Battista owners are guaranteed the same vision, passion and innovation that comes with all the iconic Pininfarina-designed cars of the past.

A Celebration of Beautiful Design: Three Battistas in Geneva

Following a small series of successful private presentations of the PF0 - the Battista prototype design model - in North America and Europe in 2018, the wraps come off the production version of the world's first luxury electric hyper GT in unique fashion in Geneva.

The Battista is the result of a close collaboration between the Automobili Pininfarina design team, led by Luca Borgogno, and Pininfarina SpA, led by its Design Vice President Carlo Bonzanigo. Pininfarina SpA will also hand-build every Battista in Cambiano, Italy.

At the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show, Automobili Pininfarina presented two examples of the ground-breaking hypercar to prospective owners. Potential clients wishing to express interest in owning a Battista can meet the Automobili Pininfarina sales team to discuss their requirements at the new brand's stand located in Hall 2 of the Palexpo exhibition centre.

The Pininfarina SpA stand is in the adjacent Hall 1 and hosts a third Battista design model. The Pininfarina SpA team will be promoting its own specialist design and engineering services to prospective corporate clients throughout the show. Any enquiries regarding sales or specification of the Battista hypercar will however be directed to the nearby Automobili Pininfarina stand.

The three Battista specifications being presented at Geneva reflect the potential for personalisation of the 150 cars that will be produced, highlighted by the Iconica by Automobili Pininfarina design pack on a Blu Iconica Battista. There is an ambition and expectation that each car will be unique, which will also underline the elegance and design purity of the car acting as a blank canvas upon which owners can paint their own masterpieces, with advice from the masters-of-design in Cambiano.

A Grigio Luserna satin grey Battista features accents in satin Blu Iconica and anodized aluminium detailing. With its unique wheel design and duo-tone black and tan interior, this specification presents a strong, well-defined and dynamic expression of Pininfarina design while still remaining elegant.

The Blu Iconica Battista represents Automobili Pininfarina's signature brand colour with an interpretation of Pininfarina blue. It is a deep electric blue, reflecting the technological innovation within, and is made up of multiple layers of paint which results in a deep luxurious lustre. Aesthetically the car is more dramatic with modifications to the bonnet, visually connecting it to the windscreen via carbon fibre blades. The front wing above the front LED light strip is visually divided into two reflecting the car's rear wing graphic and unifying the overall design.

The third Battista is a pure pearlescent white called Bianco Sestriere. Small colour details hark back to historical Pininfarina cars such as the legendary Ferrari Modulo concept, a classic example of how the Italian Carrozzeria produces understated, elegant and visually striking cars. One such design detail adds a red aluminium line along the flanks between the sill and door, immediately ahead of the front wheel and running along the back from the rear wheels. This adds a 'light touch' of design, adding to the overall elegance of proportions. Red calipers and red anodized lower aluminium trims, and a darker anodized aluminium strip over the window are the limits of decoration making this Battista the most purely representative of Pininfarina's styling excellence.

The three Battistas, featuring bespoke colours defined by Automobili Pininfarina, clearly present Automobili Pininfarina's solutions for ultra-high-performance and beautiful style. Each car's exterior design also shows how to elegantly integrate active and passive aerodynamics and performance functionality.

On the inside, there is an ergonomic precision bordering on obsession to the car's layout to ensure it is accessible to every driver regardless of their experience - the layout of controls completely focused on maximizing drivability at 30 km/h or 300 km/h. But this focus on ergonomics is not at the expense of style. The Battista's interior becomes a truly special place to be for either the driver or passenger.

All aluminium parts are finished in brushed anodized aluminium, with many of these parts featuring special knurling for added grip. There is a luxurious level of quilting on the seats, door inserts, centre console and knee pads. A leather insert at the twelve o'clock position on the steering wheel, and a number of dials in the cockpit are finished in anodized Blu Iconica, whilst optional carbon fibre components and a 'Battista' plate at the bottom of the steering wheel are also presented. Between the seats on the three show cars is a special plate featuring a Battista signature and a dedication to the Battista's Geneva world premiere.

Each Battista will be a beautiful, rare and pure performance car. There is no overt styling statement that defines the Battista as an electric car. The emissions-free benefits of the pure-electric powertrain do not dictate the Battista's style, drivability or luxurious ambience, allowing future owners to enjoy the luxury of a hyper GT guilt-free. Zero emissions are a given; beauty and power are the goal.

The Vision for Automobili Pininfarina

Automobili Pininfarina is a brand-new car company, equipped with a clear vision developed from the dreams and ambitions of two families from different continents but with a shared passion for innovation and beauty.

As the automotive world addresses the transition from the internal combustion engine to electrification, Automobili Pininfarina launches as a purely electric car brand delivering only beautiful, exciting and highly desirable luxury cars. Over the next two decades, electrification will revolutionise car design, car ownership, and even the set-up of car companies. But from 2020, the Battista will immediately set new standards and inspire true love for EVs as the world's first luxury electric hyper GT.

In 2014 the chairmen of Pininfarina SpA and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd discussed and agreed upon how their respective companies' strengths could combine to change the automotive landscape.

Paolo Pininfarina and Anand Mahindra shook hands on a deal that would see Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and Tech Mahindra become majority owners of Pininfarina SpA. The relationship then developed with an agreement confirming that the legendary Italian Carrozzeria builds and designs the world's first electric luxury hyper GT through a new company called Automobili Pininfarina, whose sole objective is to design and market Pininfarina-branded cars that will embody everything that Pininfarina has stood for in its almost 90-year history: each car combining beauty and innovation ahead of its time and yet instantly desirable with timeless potential.

This handshake also started a new chapter in Pininfarina's history, supporting the Italian company, and being integral to the development and launch of a range of cars solely branded Pininfarina. This fulfilled the long-held dream of company founder Battista 'Pinin' Farina; his son Sergio; and grandson and current chairman, Paolo Pininfarina: to see Pininfarina stand as a design partner to the world's most famous car brands.

Masters at Work

In early 2018, under the guidance of CEO, Michael Perschke, and with investment from Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the newly founded company Automobili Pininfarina began assembling the team and technical partners that would be needed to launch a new car brand, a new way of doing automotive business, and a ground-breaking new car in less than three years.

The corporate ambition, business plan, focus on electrification and sustainability, and the opportunity to work with Pininfarina SpA led to a rapid and successful recruitment of an automotive dream team.

Since the brand was announced at the Rome Formula E race in April 2018, the team has incorporated expertise from the likes of Audi and Audi Sport, BMW, Bugatti, Jaguar Land Rover, Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz AMG, Pagani, Porsche and Volvo. The latest high-profile recruit to the cause is Rene Wollmann who joined Automobili Pininfarina on March 1st, 2019 as Programme Director Sportscars, having been responsible for the Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercar. Mahindra Racing's Formula E driver, Nick Heidfeld, was also tempted away from the race track to become the brand's Test and Development Driver, bringing with him unique experience honed from nearly 20 years of top-level motor racing, including 183 Formula 1 races and a number of still-standing hill climb records.

The new team members have been motivated by the opportunity to build a new car brand with a famous name, and to set performance standards that are unachievable today with internal combustion engine (ICE) technology. Key to their desire to be involved was the fascination and motivation of working with a purely electric range of cars and a corporate ambition to use the halo effect of the Battista to inspire significant industry changes in sustainable car production.

Electrification and sustainability are much more than simply building cars with zero emissions. But on the road is where the story starts for the driver: a halo EV such as the Battista, and the commitment to a fully electric luxury brand, will drive awareness and desirability of electrification. As a result, the sustainability agenda is pushed back into the process of energy production and storage itself: Automobili Pininfarina's ambition is that the Battista also inspires improved sustainability in battery production and recycling, and the company is looking holistically at the sustainability challenges and opportunities that come with operating as a high-profile luxury electric car brand. The ultimate ambition is to be the most sustainable luxury car brand on the planet, from the corporate headquarters down through the supplier network. Sustainability, and luxury without guilt, is a genuine desire.

An enviable network of partner suppliers and specialist retailers is being established, motivated by the same aspirations as Automobili Pininfarina.

Rimac (powertrain and battery pack) and Pininfarina SpA (design and hand-built production) have taken headlines to-date with an initial combined €100m investment commitment from Automobili Pininfarina.

Further partnerships have been secured with Mahindra Racing's Formula E team, who revealed a Battista-liveried racing car at the Geneva unveil, Pirelli Tyre SpA who presented a Pirelli P Zero tyre mounted on a 21-inch rim in an exclusive new design for the Battista show cars, Salesforce in California for software and connectivity solutions, and the new GreenTech Festival taking place in Berlin in May backed by former Formula 1 World Champion, Nico Rosberg.

Automobili Pininfarina has secured the first round of specialist retailers in its global network of an initial 25 partners. All are proven specialists in building strong relationships with owners of luxury and high-performance cars. The first 13 retail partners in North America and Europe are in place and taking orders for the maximum 50 Battistas that will be sold in each region. The first partners in Asia and the Middle East have also been confirmed for Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Saudi Arabia as part of a combined network that will also receive a maximum of 50 cars. No more than 150 Battistas will ever be produced and the first car's arrival in the second half of 2020 will herald an annual release of luxury, electric, beautiful and innovative Pininfarina-branded cars.

Michael Perschke and Paolo Pininfarina are unified in their ambition to establish the world's first all-electric luxury car brand: a new brand steeped in Italian design heritage with its first car, the Battista, delivering an unprecedented level of desirability, innovation and performance for electric cars.

The Battista Brief

Luca Borgogno, Automobili Pininfarina's Design Director, devised a succinct design brief for Pininfarina SpA: to create the world's first beautiful, all-electric hypercar.

The Battista is being developed by the Pininfarina SpA design studio under the management of Pininfarina Group Design Vice President, Carlo Bonzanigo. Together Borgogno and Bonzanigo's teams have designed, and will develop, a hypercar with unmatched standards of performance, beauty and elegance, combining form and function in perfect harmony.

The Battista is the flagship for the new Automobili Pininfarina brand and the platform for a level of performance and technology never before experienced. It is the trail blazer of the EV movement and the purest expression of Pininfarina's philosophy: it resolves the apparent paradox between the functional design of wings, vanes, splitters, inlets and outlets, and beautiful design that is defined by clean, elegant, pure and sensual surfaces. This is typical of the challenge that Pininfarina has mastered over its almost 90-year history - yet this particular journey is truly ground-breaking as it is Pininfarina's first hypercar fully integrating EV technology.

Luca Borgogno said: "The automotive world is ready to see a marriage of beauty, electric power and performance. It is this combination provided by Pininfarina SpA working shoulder-to-shoulder with us at Automobili Pininfarina that will make the Battista more than just a ferocious performance car and more than just a visual work of art. Styling, balanced with ultimate performance, producing a genuine Pininfarina: the beauty of power and the power of beauty."

Combining form and function is Pininfarina SpA's forte. The Cisitalia 202 GT started this tradition stunning the automotive world when it arrived at the Villa d'Este in 1947 with an unprecedented aesthetic and technical level of purity and elegance that transformed post-war automobile design.

This passion to hide ground-breaking technical innovation beneath a beautiful and luxurious body is the Cambianese calling card, and forms the basis of the development of the Battista. The result will combine the engineering and technology that can power a 1,900 hp fully electric hyper GT with luxury, beauty and elegance inside and out, in an accessible and drivable package as enjoyable on a hot lap around Monza or on an evening out in Monaco.

Borgogno continued: "The greatest challenge is how to marry technology and history, make it look contemporary and iconic, and not force the product to shout, "I'm an EV". Technical and performance is 'easy', but timelessness and beauty? That takes skill and experience. And the reason for us to exist is beauty."

Pininfarina Battista Exterior Design

The Battista is a typically elegant Pininfarina design. Renowned for being able to define their cars in just two lines, the Battista is no different, presenting a full carbon body that is curvaceous and sculptural, with a cabin encased in sweeping glass. A single dynamic strip of LED light is proudly positioned at the front of the car between the Battista's headlights.

With just a few lines, the design team has expressed the characteristics of the car.

The most important line encircles the car, and it starts at the front, where the design line creates the effect of a floating wing. This runs along the flank to create a sensual and sculpted side profile before climbing over the rear wheel arches and around the rear wing. This highlights what Borgogno considers to be the most iconic design feature of the Battista.

Defining the wing in this way connects the rear of the car with the front visually and subtly draws attention to its strong functional purpose of creating significant levels of downforce and acting as an airbrake.

The simple accent line around the car outlines the classic teardrop cabin shape that defines many of the most iconic Pininfarina designs; a particularly difficult challenge for a hypercar. As a result, the roof is a very aerodynamic shape - cab forward with a long, sloping rear end - and makes the cabin almost look like it is floating within the car's overall body structure.

The roof itself is darker than the body, which keeps attention on the elegant body sides and front and rear design flourishes, and it is partly formed by the tops of butterfly wing style doors that dramatically lift and tilt to ensure easy entry and exit. At its rear lower edge, the charging e-port adds a level of drama and intrigue as it pulsates to indicate the Battista's charge status.

A simple line of aluminium connects A- and B-pillars, defining the shape of the doors and side windows, and ending just above a carbon fibre bridge that connects the cabin to the rear flank and channels air into the rear cooling zone. These design details are the first steps into personalisation.

Pininfarina Battista Interior Design

To match the exterior seamlessly, the interior design has a strong, elegant ambience with a purity of purpose. The Battista is an ultra-high-performance car operating at a level never before experienced in the automotive world, so the interior is totally focused on the driver interface.

Inside the car, the cockpit must be equally as inspiring as the exterior design in both form and function. Pininfarina SpA is defining what Borgogno calls a 'vanishing point' concept for the main dashboard display which will be both unique and exciting, focusing the driver's attention - a new definition of a driver-centric layout.

Core to this concept are the two screens located either side of a compact steering wheel and angled towards the driver. Conventional dials have been eliminated, with all the vital information immediately in front of the driver via an additional slim screen located in the centre.

The left-side screen controls dynamics and performance, with the right screen controlling media and navigation. They are in the perfect ergonomic position: close to the steering wheel, close to hand, and therefore close to the line of vision.

Lower down, and again working on the left/right principle, are ergonomically refined rotary controls that change drive mode settings (on the left) and provide control of the transmission (on the right).

There are almost endless opportunities to personalise the interior through materials and colour. Automobili Pininfarina's design team is particularly focused on offering ways of layering colours around the dashboard and door panels in a theme that simulates the flowing lines on the exterior of the car. Ambient lighting around the dashboard reflects the front LED and the LEDs on the wings at the rear.

The Battista: Engineered Beautifully by Automobili Pininfarina and Partners

Michael Perschke, CEO, Automobili Pininfarina: "From the moment I met Mate Rimac, I knew that he and his team would be the perfect complement for the unique engineering talent we have brought together under our CTO Dr. Christian Jung at Automobili Pininfarina. Rimac can provide the power we need to deliver memorable driving experiences that match the incredible design standards set by Pininfarina. This collaboration brings together the future of electric performance with the heritage of Pininfarina's legendary automotive styling capabilities to deliver a truly beautiful hypercar."

The Battista's performance targets are unachievable with an internal combustion engine. Electrification is today's solution to unlocking a new experience and achieving unparalleled performance targets: 1900 hp, 200 Nm, 350 km/h top speed, zero to 100 km/h in less than two seconds and zero to 300 km/h in less than 12 seconds.

But smashing traditional performance targets is far from Automobili Pininfarina's only goal. Re-defining vehicle dynamics, comfort, usability, and acceleration sprints through the performance envelope are just as challenging. The results will secure the Battista's place in hypercar history, proving that electrification is no barrier to the unique experience of hypercar ownership.

Electrification is the catalyst to a new hypercar experience, a genuine powertrain performance option and a necessary engineering solution for the modern world. Therefore, just as with design, where Automobili Pininfarina works hand-in-hand with the best partner, so the engineering team, led by Chief Technical Officer Dr. Christian Jung, sought the best partner to provide the power behind the beauty.

The Battista presents the first results of a unique partnership with its key engineering partner, Rimac Automobili, which provides battery and drivetrain expertise, software and hardware.

Beneath the Skin of Battista

The Battista's 450 kilometre range will cover virtually all possible journeys, especially as 90% of owners are expected to charge the car where it is garaged, and it will have the capability for DC fast charging. Long-distance driving is expected, the car's ergonomic and luxurious interior reflects that, and by 2021 using App-based charging networks will be normal for many owners. The 10% who drive the car to its range limit will be well prepared.

The T-shaped lithium/manganese/nickel liquid-cooled 120 kWh battery pack's weight distribution is configured to optimise the car's dynamics. Four motors, one per wheel, mean torque vectoring becomes a key performance parameter, as it independently distributes torque and power to each wheel allowing for extreme dynamic opportunities. With well over twice the normal levels of torque that future Battista owners experience in their existing supercars, torque vectoring is required to manage infinitely variable dynamic responses in lieu of the traditional stability control and traction control systems that would simply not be able to cope with the sheer impact of this level of instant torque delivery.

The four motors are internal permanent magnet reduction systems in pairs, front and back, housed together yet working independently of each other. They have a near limitless and maintenance-free operating life and maximum torque from standstill which, in effect, provides an independent and ultra-flexible powertrain at each wheel.

Whilst the car's electronic brain supports the driver to deliver a new dynamic driving experience, its braking system offers the back-up to match that performance. Massive 390 mm carbon ceramic discs with six-piston cast and painted monoblock calipers provide powerful fade-free deceleration and hugely effective brake regeneration to the battery. The active rear wing features an air brake function.

The benefits of individual motors supplied with power from a battery are manifest, but the challenge remains to package this completely new type of vehicle architecture within a carbon chassis and carbon-bodied car. The greatest opportunity is the low centre of gravity and near-perfect weight distribution that the battery supports when compared to an internal combustion engine-powered supercar, ultimately meaning that the Battista will feel lithe, agile and exciting across its dynamic range.

A full carbon monocoque, bonded carbon roof, rear carbon subframe with crash structures of carbon fibre and aluminium, and a full carbon body featuring lift and tilt butterfly wing style doors shows weight management and strength are the focus for the development team.

The Sound of Science

The driver will also be able to set his or her bespoke sound settings with no artificial sound amplification. Supercar drivers love the sound of a high-performance engine and the authentic electric hypercar noise must compare with the experience. Automobili Pininfarina is creating a signature Battista sound, which is partly legislative - electric cars travelling below 50 km/h must have an audible presence - and also to give the car its hyper-personality. Key factors in sound generation include the electric motors, the air flow, the HVAC system, and carbon monocoque resonance.

Future Owners of Battista

Automobili Pininfarina has already presented the Battista in PF0 prototype form at over 20 events. Orders have been taken and the brand's first clients are reinforcing early expectations about who will own one of the 150 Battistas.

Initial demand is coming from traditional supercar and hypercar collectors who know Pininfarina well with understandable interest in the driving experience and performance expectations. Early previews are also seeing clients with strong knowledge of car design, with others taking their first step into hypercar ownership. It's clear that many of the cars will be used on the road as the engineers intended, but others will be stored and invested as the first ever pure Pininfarina road car. Battista owners will be drivers and collectors.

The collectors value heritage, design and style, and if they know a car is an innovative performance car then that adds to the collectability. For the drivers, the Battista engineers' efforts and focus will be embraced. So, the next 20 months spent producing a level of technical performance never before seen on the roads will not be wasted on even one of the 150 cars produced.

With the initial prototype PF0 tour of the USA focusing on the New York Tri-state and California regions, there has also been significant interest from technology leaders looking for automotive innovation who had not previously considered internal combustion engine hypercars: the technology promised on the Battista, and the future range of cars, overcoming any prejudice against the impact of high-performance engines.

In client meetings, Automobili Pininfarina found that fewer people than anticipated had experienced an electric car and some remain sceptical over predictable issues such as charging and range. But with an anticipated 450 kms of range targeted, combined with the anticipated use of the car, then charging and range anxieties become almost redundant. Those clients that have owned or driven powerful electric cars are evangelistic and the assumption is that once an owner experiences an electric car they will stay electric day-to-day.

The Battista: Available Through Specialist Retailers

Automobili Pininfarina is building on the recently announced first phase of specialist partners that will be appointed in its new global network. These partnerships will be defined and managed by Automobili Pininfarina's new Munich-based sales team to ensure the pinnacle of customer experience is achieved when the world's first pure Pininfarina road car comes to market in 2020.

Since the company was announced in April 2018, Automobili Pininfarina's CEO, Michael Perschke has prioritised the selection of the world's leading specialist car retailers to support the company's ambitions for the new luxury brand. There will be a network of between 25 and 40 Automobili Pininfarina retail partners, all proven specialists in luxury and high-performance car owner relationships.

Automobili Pininfarina has secured partners in North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia, and will complete these regions' specialist dealer networks during the course of 2019. Demonstrating the company's global reach, its North American partners include those located in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. Europe will be served by specialists in Birmingham, Brussels, Düsseldorf, London, Monaco, Stuttgart and Zürich. Automobili Pininfarina has also announced that its first partners in Asia will be located in Hong Kong and Singapore, whilst Middle East partners are confirmed in Riyadh and Dubai.