Pagani: The current battery technology is not bright enough for the electric hypercar of the future

Pagani is working hard on an electric hypercar, but admits that something will only be released if it fits the company’s lightweight philosophy. Current battery technology means… not anytime soon.

Christopher Pagani, the son of founder Horatio, told TopGear.com that the team has been working on an electric hypercar since 2018 and “there is no need to stop it.”

What could stop it, however, is current EV technology. “Our goal is to create something that should be light. Looking at Pagani, what you see in common with the vehicles we produce is that they have to be light.

“You have to have a special feeling to drive, which you can sometimes call ‘fun’. You can call it happiness. But the weight is definitely our first question mark. So maybe with the current technology Pagani can’t create the way we want.

He pointed out how the challenge of developing EVs excites the company. “There are many amazing things to invent in an electric car – we are not afraid of innovation.”

Pagani of course has a long and successful partnership with Mercedes. When asked if the company could use Mercen’s EV architecture — batteries, motors, etc. — Pagani said: “We’re having constant meetings with Mercedes-Benz and AMG, and we’re evaluating it.” They are our official partners when we need them. [to build] Full electric car, we take the final decision [then].

“My father, and generally everyone who works at Pagani, has the attitude that if we feel we have the capacity to do something, we will do it within ourselves. If not, we won’t be,” he added.

He hinted at the use of Mercedes-AMG engines for the cars, but pointed out how those parts were specifically designed for the Italian hypercar maker. “I think you must be blind to say that I do things on my own because I am better than others. If you’re open, you can find amazing sources of custom components for your car. We don’t take things from other vehicles – everything is built for Pagani cars.

“V12 – it’s a Pagani V12.”

Speaking of the V12, Pagani talked about how the new Utopia (pictured above) – only Pagani’s third ever model line – will be powered by a Mercedes-AMG first V8 hybrid. “But we ‘challenged’ them to keep the V12 and they accepted.

“How long will we have the V12? That really depends on how the regulations go. We know we can have it until at least 2035 for the smaller manufacturers. But we’re not afraid to approach another powerplant in the future. We need to know what the regulations are.”

Will the transition to electric be Pagani’s toughest challenge yet? “Actually, no. As a family-owned brand, we’re not pressured to jump into something if we’re not ready or don’t believe in it 100 percent.

“We have a long timeline of cars to come, but for us, with the volumes we produce, we feel very comfortable where we are. We’ve always held our own.” [volume] Numbers are very good. We don’t follow the market or fashion. At the end of the day we have over 200 employees so we want to be stable. We want them to feel safe. We will make the decision together.