The Lamborghini Terzo Millennio, an EV concept car that was developed in conjunction with MIT, is a vision from the future.  A super car that runs on batteries, the designers sought to address the future of sports cars in five different dimensions:

…energy storage systems, innovative materials, propulsion systems, visionary design, and emotion. The first two of those dimensions it conceived with the two labs at MIT.

Here’s a key quote from an article about the car in Popular Mechanics magazine:

Current Lamborghinis are built around a big engine bolted behind the seats. And current electric cars are built around their batteries, which is to say they’re often built on top of their batteries. The Terzo clearly doesn’t have room for a stack of batteries between its seats and the ground (okay, it doesn’t actually have seats, but use your imagination). Instead, the idea is that the body is the battery. Within three years Lamborghini and MIT hope to develop carbon nanotube technology to the point that structural parts can double as batteries. How? Well, they’re working on it. But it’s not like nanotube battery cars are imminent. The concept’s name translates to “Third Millennium,” which is another way of saying, “Don’t bother us if this isn’t available in your Huracán four years from now.”

The other major subject of this MIT-Lambo team-up concerns supercapacitors, which can be quickly charged and discharged but can’t store as much energy as an equivalent battery. That might not be a problem for Lamborghini’s particular mission, though. Prior to the concept unveiling, Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini’s chief technical officer, explained that an electric Lamborghini is going to have different priorities than most other passenger cars. “I’d rather have quick charging than long range,” he said. “Because if you have really quick charging, the range doesn’t matter as much. I’d rather be able to do four laps of the Nurburgring and then charge in three minutes than be able to drive a long distance but take a long time to recharge.”

You might ask, “What does this car have to do with me?”  Or, “I can’t afford a Lamborghini!”  The importance of developing a car of this sort is that any advancements in technology will, over time, trickle into the rest of automobile market.  Although this car may be out of reach of most people, it is a good way to develop and test new technologies that may revolutionize the automobile industry–or at least improve one’s experience of riding in car.

Here’s a look at the car:

Check out The Jancy Report–a weekly briefing on business, culture, design, and technology. It focuses on emerging ideas and trends.

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Leave A Comment