The successor to Aventador boasts a hybrid electric system that elevates its power to otherworldly levels.
The new king of the Lamborghini line has been crowned, Revuelto, and it’s ready to scream a little longer before the echoes of the internal combustion engine fade into the future.
The good folks at Lamborghini announced long ago that Aventador would be its last naturally aspirated V-12. But those who thought the maker would scale down the cylinder count to boost its heir's efficiency were mistaken. Instead, the engineering team in Sant'Agata Bolognese have bestowed Revuelto with a hybrid electric system to elevate power and performance to otherworldly levels, which thematically explains its name.
Revuelto gets its moniker from a famed bull that fought in Spain during the late 19th century. The word translated from Spanish means "scrambled" or "mixed up."
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Monstrous Power
The new L545 6.5-liter V-12 mid-mounted internal combustion engine is the lightest and most powerful Lambo has ever made. It produces 814 hp on its own, but augmented with two front axial flux motors and a radial flux electric motor elevate total output to 1,001 hp and 793 lb-ft of torque.
The 147-hp electric motors are powered by a lithium-ion battery (pouch cells with a capacity of 3.8 kWh) housed in what was traditionally the transmission tunnel. That battery pack feeds all three e-motors and allows Revuelto to function as a full EV with all-wheel drive, but only for short stints. An official range has yet to be confirmed, however Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini's chief technical officer, estimates it at somewhere between six to nine miles.
The battery can be charged one of three ways: via a plug-in charging port inside the front trunk, through braking regeneration, or by using the V-12 as a generator.
Lambo claims Revuelto has the best power-to-weight ratio of any vehicle the brand has ever produced, as well as its fastest road car to date—roaring from 0 to 62mph in only 2.5 seconds and 124mph in under seven. It also clocks top speed in excess of 217mph. Mohr told journalists at the global unveiling at the brand’s factory Revuelto is quicker around the brand’s Nardo test track than the legendary Aventador SVJ, which isn’t just chalked up to the added power. Revuelto benefits from electric front-axle torque vectoring as well as rear-wheel steering, for added agility and precision in the bends and more stability when hammering the throttle in the straights.
With more speed comes the need for added stopping power. So, of course, the carbon ceramic brakes are bigger and better—16.1-inch rotors and 10-piston calipers in the front and 15.4 inchers with four piston claws in the back.
Also new for Revuelto is a compact eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, now mounted transversely behind the rear axle, facilitating the hybrid architecture. Produced and developed in-house, the gearbox also offers a new feature, "continuous downshifting." Holding down the left paddle under braking allows drivers to drop down multiple gears seamlessly.
Not just faster, Revuelto is a bit greener. According to Lamborghini, the new hybrid system also brings down CO2 emissions by 30 percent compared to Aventador. Of course adding a battery and some electric motors to a beastly V-12 is a bit like switching from cowboy cigarettes to filtered smokes. Sure, it’s a start, but there’s still work to do on the sustainability front.
To that end, Lamborghini’s CEO Stephan Winkelmann says its entire lineup will be hybridized by 2024 and the brand will launch its first fully electric production vehicle by 2028. The goal, according to Winkelman is to lower CO2 emissions by 80 percent by the end of the decade.
A Carbon-fiber Solution
There’s no way around it, batteries and electric components add mass. In order to minimize weight elsewhere, engineers in Sant’Agata Bolognese developed a new carbon frame concept where most of the front of the car, including the tub section, uses the brand's patented forged composite, while the engine and transmission are supported by high-strength aluminum. Overall, the chassis is 10 percent lighter and 25 percent stiffer than Aventador.
Designing a Rocket Ship
Revuelto undoubtedly has the Lamborghini look—ready to slice up both air and tarmac. Certainly, there's plenty of visual reverb provided by Lambos of the past, like the Y-shaped running lights inspired by the Sián (a theme that runs across the exterior), the Diablo-esque engine area or the scissor-style doors from Countach. Yet, Revuelto manages to feel unique.
Even though it’s meant to be piloted on terrestrial roads, the designers had otherworldly ambitions. “I always want to have something unexpected,” says Mitja Borkert, Lamborghini's head of design. “In the case of Revuelto, we wanted to create a spaceship, a creature that looks like it’s ready to fly.”
The astral form Borkert and his team came up with is inarguably stunning, but the beauty of the design transcends mere aesthetics. Many of the exterior elements funnel airflow to the active rear wing, boosting aerodynamic efficiency by 61 percent and downforce by 66 percent.
For the interior, the design team made the most out of a longer wheelbase, adding an extra inch in every direction. That may not sound like much, but if you’re over 6-feet tall and wearing a helmet on-track, that inch of head room is much appreciated…trust us.
There’s also now a small space behind the seats to store a bag or two, for Lamborghini owners who might want to take a briefcase or handbag to work—or a change of clothes to race day.
The Y-shape theme continues on the inside where it dominates the dash, as does a trio of digital displays—a 12.3-inch instrument cluster for the driver, a vertical 8.4-inch central touchscreen, and a 9.1-incher for the passenger that can be configured to display a variety of information.
Want one?
Bad news…despite the fact Lambo's yet to announce pricing, it says the next two years of production has already been snapped up. (Hey Siri, what’s going on with inflation?)
Since Lamborghini views the emotional experience of driving a supercar nearly as important as the performance, we're told the brand spent a tremendous amount of time and effort refining the sound of the engine. But we've yet to hear the new V-12’s soundtrack in person. Hopefully we can wreck our hearing a bit when we put rubber to the road sometime around Thanksgiving. Stay tuned!
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