The year 2026 will be a time of reckoning for electric sports cars, especially within the Volkswagen Group. As the company reportedly tries to cut costs by a massive 20 percent after its EV strategy mostly flopped, many brands within the group are rethinking their priorities. Seeing as how no manufacturer can prove to the world that demand for electric sports cars actually exists, those will likely be the first to go.
Porsche has received the most press coverage on this subject thus far, having reportedly canceled its all-electric 718 after at least seven years of development, telling engineers to redesign the car to fit an internal combustion engine instead. In September, Bentley, another VW Group subsidiary, delayed its EV transition plans to 2035 amid a “dip in demand.”
Now, a similar thing is happening at Lamborghini. Company CEO Stephan Winkelmann told The Sunday Times the company has stopped development of its first electric production car for the same reason every other high-end car manufacturer has either avoided or stopped producing performance EVs: Because there isn’t a market for them.
Mincing No Words
In speaking with The Times, Winkelmann confirmed an earlier rumor suggesting that its upcoming EV, which was initially revealed in concept form under the name Lanzador in 2023, would be converted into a plug-in hybrid instead of a pure electric vehicle after a year of internal discussion and market analysis.
Chief executive Stephan Winkelmann said EV development risked becoming “an expensive hobby” for the Italian company as he confirmed that a forthcoming all-electric car, named in 2023 as the Lanzador, will no longer join its line-up.
Instead it will be replaced by a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), meaning that by 2030, the company’s range will all be PHEV, said Winkelmann. Lamborghini would continue to build internal combustion engines (ICE) “for as long as possible”, he added.
That last part is crucial. People who buy supercars want something sincerely analog, with noises, vibrations, and smells that an EV can’t replicate, no matter how hard companies like Hyundai try with their synthesized gear shifts and piped-in internal combustion engine noises.
Even with this stuff, Lamborghini buyers are, obviously, not convinced. If I were paying half a million dollars for a supercar, I wouldn’t be either. I’d want the real thing, not some replicated experience—even if that experience was high-quality.
Winkelmann told The Sunday Times that the “acceptance curve” for battery-powered cars in Lamborghini’s target market was flattening and “close to zero”.
The company’s customers, he said, valued the “emotional experience” of their Lamborghinis — whether design, raw performance or, crucially, the distinctive sound and feedback of the internal combustion engine.
“EVs, in their current form, struggle to deliver this specific emotional connection,” he explained, confirming that noise — or lack of it, remains a crucial selling point in the luxury car market.
Instead, Lamborghini plans to stick to its hybrid-only strategy for the foreseeable future, according to Winkelmann. As of 2024, its entire lineup, which consists of the Temerario, the Revuelto, and the Urus SUV, uses battery assistance. At their hearts, however, are fire-breathing internal combustion engines (twin-turbo V8s for the Urus and the Temerario, and a V12 for the Revuelto).
That approach has worked out well for the brand. It managed to avoid the 2025 sales dip seen by most of the Volkswagen Group last year, selling a record 10,747 cars, despite tariffs slicing into North American sales.
There’s Still Hope For At Least One VW Group Sports Car
Winkelmann told The Times a fully electric Lamborghini wasn’t truly out of the picture, saying that it’d come to market “when the time is right.” But not every VW Group subsidiary has the same attitude.
Audi revealed a concept for a new TT-shaped sports car last year, with plans to put it into production. The company later confirmed that the car would, in fact, be a fully electric vehicle, despite all of the reasons above why that probably wasn’t a good idea.
Then, just a few days ago, CEO Gernot Döllner reportedly sent an internal letter to employees saying the project was still a go, despite the rumors about the electric Porsche 718’s cancellation (the Audi is widely believed to be using the same architecture as the Porsche).
So if you want a new electric sports car from the VW Group, you’re not totally out of luck. And considering just how low the demand for such vehicles is, you probably won’t have a hard time getting your hands on one.
Top graphic image: Lamborghini
Wait, the ultra rich don’t care about saving money on gas or the environment? Who could have guessed?!?!
*inserts shocked Fry gif*
Shocked. I’m Shocked!
No, really, I’m not.
I’m 95% sure that this was going to share a whole lot of platform development with other VW stablemates – and if you kill off one of them, the rest die too.
And everytime someone writes “Winkelmann” for Stephan Winkelmann that I picture, in my head, Claudia Winkleman saying the words.
Negative surprise here.
Sportcars are 1000% about emotion, and about the most emotionless thing I can think of is an EV. One pedal go fast, other pedal, go slow. Turn wheel (or God forbid an idiotic yoke), it turns. All the while making various whining noises. Yawn. I don’t want that level of uninvolvement in my grocery-getters, never mind the cars that I own that are *supposed* to be just for fun. The dorks that like that sort of thing all have Teslas already.
Been having an ongoing debate with a friend of mine who is pro-EV (which is totally fine with me) where he keeps insisting EVs are better and more “fun” because of the instant acceleration. I pointed out that driving enjoyment is not solely about straightline acceleration for most enthusiasts. If it were, the Miata, GR86 and other cars would never have lasted. As you said, the dorks who just want their car to be like any other appliance in their lives (dishwasher, fridge, etc.) can have their soulless Teslas. Enjoy paying Elon for that self-driving subscription.
Exactly how I feel. If I just want to be tossed around by g-forces, I will buy a ticket to an amusement park. I don’t need (or want) to go fast, I just want to have fun. Slow fun is lots safer, especially to your wallet and insurance rating.
It’s actually my gripe with ALL modern cars, EVs just make it 10X worse. They aren’t fun at sane speeds, the speeds that they get fun at are not safe on the street, and I have no real interest in tracks. I can drive the bejeebus out of my Spitfire, having the time of my life, and nobody will notice other than the big grin on my face.
going to be a strange world when the masses are forced into disposable/subscription EVs where everything you do and everywhere you go is tracked, monitored and can be disabled the central authorities when you don’t agree with them… and yet the elites will still be flying private to catch up with their yacht and driving their ICE vehicles to wherever it is they drive to show up on instragram posts.
They can already do that now with your ICE car. When I sold GM products they used to brag about how every car over the last decade has OnStar that is capable of remotely shutting off the car if the police tell them to. That has nothing to do with EVs
I think part of the problem is differentiation. Regular EVs are already stupid fast for street use, with super low CG for reasonably good handling (for 5000-6000 lb cars). How do you sell that some commodity parts in a different wrapper are worth 200k+ more than a Hyundai?
The number of supercar and sports car manufacturers that think a silent version of their vehicles is a good idea have forgotten the base child-like appeal of them in the first place. Remember when you first found out about a V12?
Dad’s pickup or muscle car might have 8 cylinders but these little wedge-shaped cars have 12!? How cool is that?
If it doesn’t have an exotic engine, how is it any different than any other super fast EV?
I can’t help but to feel like part of the EV collapse is due to automakers building out models for the wrong reasons. I don’t think they looked at actual products and sales to build their roadmaps. I think they looked at Tesla stock and then boards and executives made directives based on FOMO, not any market or product fundamentals. It isn’t a surprise then when the product is the wrong one and the markets completely misunderstood.
You make a great point. I wonder if this is also based of their current ICE model of R&D where the expensive brands try new powertrain technology first because the high profit margins allow for costs to be recouped faster. It makes sense for Bentley and Cadillac but not so much for Porsche and Lamborghini.
Correct. If we really wanted EVs to be more efficient for commuting, we’d make the Corolla or Civic of EVs. Why did people buy those cars and drive them forever? Because they were efficient and cost-effective in every way. But most EVs now are a fortune and depreciate in ways only the rich can absorb. They’re status symbols, plain and simple. Nobody is buying a $100k Rivian to have an efficient commuter.
I am not surprised in the very least
I actually want a completely silent car. No engine, exhaust, or wind noise. Give me all the performance without the teen boyhood screaming. But then I’m not in the tax bracket for supercar purchases.
Blessed silence.
From Remo Williams The Adventure Begins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1rfCS7kwK8
Also obligatory Star Trek reference with Kate Mulgrew pre Captain Janeway.
The Model Y Performance – my choice for the introvert’s sports car, well, at least for straight-line speed and decent enough handling for the street. The fact that it isn’t too expensive and is probably the best all around, do it all vehicle is a bonus for me so far. When I don’t have kids to shuttle around, I will likely go back to a sedan based design but so far, no regrets. It is absolutely not a supercar but it is fun despite what all of the people online like to say about “soul less EVs”. Go drive one and most people convert quickly.
The design and performance should be pretty easy to duplicate with an EV, maybe even easier.
But, yes, for a brand whose identity and primary selling point is loud, raucous noises it would seem EVs would not be a good direction. They don’t really have much else to hang their hat on.
The financial problems in the VW group continue, project cancellations everywhere and increasing doom and gloom from the accounting department (and daily news).
Yet, broke ass Audi is apparently still pushing for the EV TT. Amazing
Broke ass VW group, as a whole.
ID.Buzz is totally canceled
Lanzador is totally canceled
718 is also canceled
And all other events are pending
Maybe the all electric sports cars would sell better if the piped in “engine noises” sounded more like the noise that the Jetson’s space car made.
Maybe electric sports cars would sell better if they cost less. Wait, are there ANY two door electric sports cars actually being sold?
MG Cyberster – Not available in the US – Chinese made 0 $70kus
Maserati GranCabria Folgor $200k (never seen one of these)
RIimac Nevera – $2.1M – May not be available in the US.
I would be interested in owning a 2 door electric sports car that was US Made and cost less than $65k. Even though this is 2x a Miata…I like driving electric.
Used BMW i8s go for 40-80k depending on condition…
The Cyberster is more like $44,000 USD on the Chinese domestic market, there’s also the JMEV 01 at $32,000
Someone like Lamborghini should be contracting famous composers and sound effects people to develop a range of selectable drive noise. Synthetic ICE is only going to disappoint most people for phoniness, looking backwards, essentially acknowledging that EVs aren’t as exciting, and being deeply unimaginative for a company that embraces extroverted visuals inspired by designs that were—at one time—shockingly different.
Exactly this. Every movie with an EV has an awesome noises, GIVE THEM TO US.
I really wanted one of those Borla speaker systems for my EV (because I’m juvenile), but I was waiting for the choice of a great sci-fi sound instead of fake ICE they launched with. I guess nobody else wanted fake ICE noises either because they gave up development.
Intriguing challenge. How do you breathe life into something that doesn’t breathe? Any enthusiast that relied on picking up an errant noise before bad went catastrophic, and reveled in the symphony of harmonic harmony, detests the idea of synthetic noise. Perhaps sound tubes from the motor and reduction gearbox routed through an acoustic chamber to drop an octave or two. Still, that music got no soul.