Pininfarina ready to unveil the world’s fastest supercar

Most carmakers are panicking until the last moment to pull a concept car together for a motor show. This week though, Italian design house Pininfarina will put three of its all-new Battista electric vehicle (EV) hypercars on the Geneva Motor Show stands. —‘’“”

Now owned by Formula E contenders Mahindra & Mahindra, Automobili Pininfarina says its Battista is one of the most powerful road cars yet built. Though that’s the sort of thing you hear about a lot at the show, it may have a point with a claimed 1,420kW power and an astonishing 2,300Nm torque from its electric powertrain.

Code-named PF0 during its development, the Battista is claimed to punch to 100km/h in less than two seconds and Pininfarina insists its top speed will be more than 400km/h.

Battista is the actual name of Pininfarina founder Pinin Farina (Pinin was his nickname) and the Geneva debutant is planned to sit at the top of an upcoming Pininfarina range of luxury and super-sports EVs.

Pininfarina claims it will reach 500km on a single charge of its battery pack, though not at 400km/h.

Some of the key EV technologies in the Battista come from Croatian enterprise Rimac, in which Porsche has a 10% interest.

There are plans for a production run of 150 Battistas, priced from £1.5m to £2m, depending on the specifications.

Pininfarina’s EV credentials have been partly built by Mahindra’s history as a founding contender in Formula E and it has poached ex-Volkswagen Group executive Michael Perschke to run the daily operations.

“We wanted Battista to be very Italian, with sensual curves to give back a feeling of the cars of the ’60s and the moment in time when sensual design in cars was to the fore and when Pininfarina really became iconic,” Pininfarina’s design director, Luca Borgogno, said.

“The body form speaks this Italian language, with the details developed in collaboration with each car’s owner adding the accents and personality.”

The Battista name, in Farina’s own handwriting, will also debut on the side pods of the championship-leading Mahindra Racing Formula E car in Geneva.