We had reported earlier about Pininfarina's intentions of producing high-end electric cars. Now, the famous Italian styling house plans to mark its return to car building as an electric carmaker. Backed by investment from Mahindra and technical know-how from Rimac, Pininfarina will launch an electric hypercar by 2020 to rival the Bugatti Chiron, according to reports.
The unnamed hypercar will be a halo product in the electric line-up that will establish Pininfarina as a standalone carmaker. Mahindra, the parent company of Pininfarina, will invest around 100 million USD (approx. Rs 660 crores) for the said plans. Mahindra had hired Michael Perschke, Audi India’s former CEO, to lead the upcoming electric projects and he will head the Pininfarina’s electric plans too, which is internally called as Project Montana at the moment. It is rumoured to adopt the name Automobili Pininfarina. The newly found electric car brand plans to have four cars in the next five years.
The new hypercar (codenamed PF-Zero) will be a halo product which will be followed by three electric SUVs. The biggest of the three SUVs will be called the PF1 and it will be eyeing the Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayenne and the likes as a performance SUV. The Croatian electric supercar maker Rimac will work in conjunction with Mahindra Racing Formula E team for the powertrains. Although details are scarce right now, we can expect the PF-Zero to pack in more than 1500bhp from its electric layout.
Development for the hypercar will commence this year with plans of a 2020 launch. The Pininfarina will function independently of Mahindra Electric with operations in Europe. The official details of these ambitious plans are expected to be revealed by Pininfarina at Rome’s inaugural Formula E race on 14 April.
