Story by Manos Angelakis
Photos courtesy Pininfarina S.p.A.
Pininfarina Battista.
If you wanted a Batmobile when growing up… this is your chance to get a car looking a bit like the Batmobile and graced with the latest technical innovations when it comes to an all electric vehicle – but without a jet-assist flaming at the rear!
Automobili Pininfarina launched Battista, a pure-electric hypercar, at one of 2019’s most exciting car debuts in New York City, and reprized during a Virtual Concurs on August 7, 2020.
The Battista is the most powerful car designed and built near Torino, Italy and delivers a level of performance that is unachievable today by any sports car featuring an internal combustion engine. The Battista’s carbon fiber body hides extreme levels of technology and functional design. It is faster than a current Formula 1 race car and with 1,900 hp and 2,300 Nm torque available, the Battista combines extreme engineering and technology in a zero emissions package. The Battista’s Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide 120kWh battery provides power to four liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, with a range of over 280 miles on a single charge.
Even though Pininfarina has been known for almost 90 years as a high-end auto design company, this is the first automobile that will actually bear the Pininfarina badge and will be built completely by hand in Italy.
Battista 'Pinin' Farina founded his eponymous coach building company in Turin, Italy, in 1930. The 1947 Cisitalia 202 coupe he designed was the first car to become part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection in New York City. Pininfarina has designed many cars for Ferrari, as well as Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, and Cadillac, among others. Pininfarina S.p.A. will design and build the Battista based on their unique 90-year experience of creating some of the world's most iconic autos. Actually the Battista exterior, at first glance, looks vaguely like a reworked Ferrari 488, an early Pininfarina design.
The Battista's proportions and stance are mid-engine supercar—the lack of exhaust pipes is the only clue to the electric powertrain underneath. It has an all-wheel-drive with a torque vectoring function.
Along the side of the car are sweeping curves which are a signature Pininfarina design, while a floating active rear-wing provides the finishing touch to the exotic proportions. More on the wing: it's fixed at lower speeds, but will raise itself above the body at higher speeds to provide downforce and will also act as an air brake.
The Battista's interior is at once very high-tech and very luxurious, with state-of-the-art infotainment interfaces and a wide range of available trim colors. Two screens are located on either side of the steering wheel, the left controlling performance, the right media and navigation. All vital information is displayed immediately in front of the driver on a small, centrally mounted screen. Drivers will also be able to set personalized sound settings, ranging from silence to what Automobili Pininfarina calls "a signature Battista sound."
Automobili Pininfarina plans to make just 150 Battistas at $2 to $2.5 million each, with a third of them coming to the U.S.; over half of that allocation is already reserved by clients!
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