The Pininfarina sits at the center of three extremely important meeting points in the supercar world. Beautiful design, promising technology, and top-tier performance are what the Battista stands for, and it has come to fight against the toughest of competition from any automaker, period. Known for bringing added flair to fast Italian sports cars, Pininfarina is changing its image of the one-trick-pony design-focused firm it once was by launching its very first full-production vehicle as an all-electric hypercar. Whether gas-powered or electric, the Pininfarina Battista’s truly humbling specs instantly bring the car and the brand into upper-echelon performance supercar territory, running with the very fastest of road-legal automobiles. With a little help from Croatian powerhouse Rimac, one of the most innovative supercar builders at the moment, Pininfarina is now joining the electric horsepower (and of course design) war to fight to be the best supercar manufacturer on the planet. Battista brings Pininfarina from the world of concepts, and coach-built designs to a modern-day product of their very own, an Italian-designed and built supercar they can be proud of. Here are ten reasons you should be talking about the Pininfarina Battista and why it is making such a splash in the supercar community.
10 One Of The Quickest Cars, Period
It’s no secret that electric cars are mind-bending quick, but the Battista runs at the very top of the food chain. Taking just 1.79 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour, don’t blink, literally, or you might miss it. Zero to sixty times have been steadily decreasing as both tire technology and power/power management programs improve. So a 1.79 time doesn’t tell the whole story. Another figure, perhaps even more astounding is its zero to 300 kph time (186 miles per hour) of just 10.5 seconds. That happens to be the top speed of many of today’s sports cars and the Pininfarina Battista can achieve it in less time than most of those cars can reach the quarter mile.
9 The Battista Costs $2.2 Million A Pop!
If you want the best of the best, the most cutting-edge of the supercar world you, you want a Pininfarina Battista. A car with this much performance, electric or not, is sure to impress even the pickiest of drivers. Limited to just 150 copies (including special editions) it will be tough to find an available example of Turin’s newest super GT as Pininfarina calls the Battista. To be a part of a story that leads the supercar world into the electric era might be priceless but Pininfarina will put a $2.2 million price tag on the experience.
8 It Features A Quad-motor Powertrain
This car makes 1,900 horsepower, or 475 horsepower per wheel. That is like having a McLaren P1 at each axle, and then another 100 horsepower to spare. The numbers behind this powertrain are bonkers and, frankly, far more than any human should be allowed to unleash on public roads without some sort of training or special license. The Pininfarina Battista is orders of magnitude stronger than the last generation of super sports cars, a fact that no one thought would ever become true, especially in such a relatively short time, whilst making the switch to electric-only power.
7 Quarter-Mile Time Of 8.55 Seconds!
This is huge leap in straight-line performance as most sports cars manage those times but on a 1/8 and 1/4 mile scale respective to the Battista’s ballistic speed. While cars like the Battista promise more handling prowess, being this isn’t exactly another hefty 4-door electric super sedan, it’s hard to ignore the dragster-like aspect to the new Pininfarina’s capabilities. The rate at which it can gain speed is what makes the leap to electric that much more appealing. Having access to instant torque is an impressive feat on its own, but that much power to produce numbers like a sub-nine second quarter mile is well into a competitive drag-racing territory, a type of racing Pininfarina never even set out to enter with the Battista.
6 Renuka Kirpalani Becomes The Fastest Indian Female Driver Ever While Piloting The Battista
The blistering top speed achieved was 221.89 miles per hour or 357.10 kilometers per hour, besting Pininfarina’s estimated 350 kilometer per hour top speed estimate of the Battista. Not only is this one of the fastest speeds ever recorded in an automobile in India, but this record speed makes Renuka Kirpalani one of the fastest female drivers around, and certainly the fastest in her country. This marks incredible achievements for both the Pininfarina brand and India in the movement to end negative cultural stigmas against female drivers. Kirpalani is helping women empowerment, whilst breaking EV supercar records, an admirable move to say the least!
5 An Electric Supercar With Nearly 300 Miles Of Range
Electric supercars shouldn’t be able to go far. This is because battery tech hasn’t yet been able to achieve the energy density required to provide both power and range that most drivers would find acceptable. Battista takes a step forward with an estimated 295 miles of range available, this is perhaps one of the first viable electric supercars. About 300 miles of range appears to be the point at which drivers can start “trusting” EVs. Getting us to our destinations without range anxiety is in itself a luxury, and this is exactly the type of vehicle where no luxury can be overlooked. Removing range anxiety from the supercar experience should prove to be game-changing in the supercar space as drivers are already flocking to the EV super sedans currently taking over the market. Sleek supercar coupes are logically in line to be a popular platform for painfully quick EVs as battery tech improves enough to package enough power into smaller cars.
4 Comes With A 120 kWh Fast-Charging Battery
Time is the most valuable thing in this world. To waste any of it is a travesty. To address this issue Pininfarina and Rimac have been able to achieve a respectable charge metric. 20- to 80-percent in as little as 25 minutes. As far as charge times go, 25 minutes for a solid amount of charge is fairly reasonable considering the performance potential and range capabilities of the Battista. Who wouldn’t want a slight break after driving your 1,900 horsepower supercar for nearly 300 miles anyway? Keep in mind that it is recommended to keep electric vehicle batteries between the 20- and 80 percent level to best preserve the life of the rechargeable components.
3 It's By The Same Pininfarina That Designed Ferraris
Yes, it’s a Pininfarina design, but don’t call it a Ferrari. This is a massive departure from the V-12, fire-breathing Italian sports cars from Maranello. Pininfarina is, after all, a design firm first and foremost. It wasn’t until the Battista that the company became serious about putting a supercar into production under the Pininfarina brand. There was a super limited run of the H2 Speed supercar with 12 copies sold, as well as other Pininfarina-designed SUVs and even a one-off Rolls-Royce named Hyperion. Battista solidifies the Pininfarina brand as a standalone allowing the team to focus on in-house projects coming to fruition rather than the traditional coach-built or hired design projects such as their long-standing history with Ferrari. Proudly Italian, Pininfarina can now be revered as an independent automaker.
2 The Pininfarina Is Powered By Rimac
Michael Perschke, the CEO of Pininfarina has stated that he chose to work with the Rimac team because he knew that this team would be, “the perfect complement for the unique engineering talent we have brought together… Rimac can provide the power we need to deliver memorable driving experiences that match the incredible design standards set by Pininfarina…” A company responsible for designing some of the most sought-after, drop-dead gorgeous automobiles in the world meets a company responsible for reaching the upper limits of electric-performance vehicles. This could be the perfect match to create one of the most exciting supercars seen in quite some time, especially considering the only other electric supercar currently on the market is Rimac’s own Nevera which, predictably, boasts similarly shocking performance figures. Because of issues like battery packaging, cost, and marketing, most performance EVs occupy the sedan space as a way for manufacturers to more easily enter the speedy EV space, while appealing to a broader audience.
1 There Is A Special Anniversario Edition As Well
Limited to just five copies, the Pininfarina Battista Anniversario edition commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Pininfarina brand with an extraordinarily limited version of an already extremely limited car. The Battista Aniversario features a triple-tone paint scheme that requires the car to be disassembled three separate times for each step of the sophisticated painting process. A new aluminum center lock wheel design is added saving 10 kilograms despite gaining a larger 21-inch rear wheel which Pininfarina says helps the car put down power. Additionally, a special aero package called the Furiosa Package, helps this fast and more furious edition stick to the pavement by adding a carbon fiber front splitter, side sills, as well as a reworked rear diffuser.