“Hybridisation brings a lot of options that just weren’t there before. I’m particularly excited about the possibilities of torque vectoring left to right. Yes, there were options with semi-active differentials and so on, but now the possibilities are much greater.
“I promise you now that you will really be able to drive these cars. They’re special, and any worries over extra weight from the hybrid system won’t last.”
Can it go too far, though? Not everyone wants electronics to drive the car for them.
“Okay, yes, let’s say now that I agree and Lamborghini agrees. We don’t want to make cars without character, so we don’t actually want to build the perfect car, if a perfect car is one that does everything for you. This isn’t the PlayStation.
“We define that character from the start of every project, and that character should stand out even if you have your eyes closed. The driver is always at the centre of a Lamborghini. They must be the hero, not the car.”
Where does that leave a fully electric Lamborghini, with no gears and no engine noise?
“You’re right to ask this question. It’s a challenge, to be honest, but one I think we must approach with openness. New technology means new opportunities to excite people.
“But let me be clear: I don’t mean acceleration. Every EV can accelerate fast. You don’t take your car out on a Sunday for a drive to go from 0-100kph [0-62mph] in 1.9sec again and again. Maybe once or twice, but after that it’s boring
“Where we will focus is on the control of the car, how it reacts to inputs and more. I won’t talk about rivals by name, but I don’t think there’s an EV on the market today that does this well. All this talk about 0-100kph times is meaningless. Really meaningless. We want so much more from our cars at Lamborghini.”
So you are rejecting any power race?