Lamborghini Terzo Millennio

Lamborghini in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology marks the first steps of a possible future electric super sports car. On the occasion of this announcement Lamborghini presents the new design concept “Terzo Millennio”, which physically imagines design and technology theories of tomorrow, while sustaining the visual intrigue, breath-taking performance and the visceral emotion found in every Lamborghini. It is made for future super sports car enthusiasts. The technological goal of the project is to enable Lamborghini to address the future of the super sports car in five different dimensions: energy storage systems, innovative materials, propulsion system, visionary design, and emotion. The first two dimensions are conceived together with the two laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: the “Dinca Research Lab”, and the “Mechanosynthesis Group”. The collaboration is substantially financed by Lamborghini. Energy Storage Systems Creating super sports cars with uncompromising performance generates Lamborghini’s motivation to revolutionize the approach to energy storage, moving away from conventional batteries and investigating the potential of supercapacitors. This is in line with the application of low voltage supercapacitors in the V12 Aventador, which started five years ago. The next step is the development of a storage system able to deliver high peak power and regenerate kinetic energy with limited influence from aging and cycling during the vehicle’s life, and with the ability to symmetrically release and harvest electric power. Innovative materials To support this revolution in energy storage systems, materials and their functions have to change, too. Lamborghini aims to further develop its leadership in the design and production of carbon fiber structures and parts, enhancing its ability to develop features and functions that take lightweight materials to the next level. The cooperation will investigate the new manufacturing routes for carbon fiber materials constituting the bodyshell of the car, which will also act as an accumulator for energy storage and enable the complete body of the car to be used as a storage system. The project also aims to combine the technology to continuously monitor the whole carbon fiber structure, both visible and invisible, with the concept of “self-healing”: the target is to provide the car with the ability to conduct its own health monitoring to detect cracks and damages in its substructure derived from accidents. In this case a self-repairing process starts via micro-channels filled with healing chemistries, reducing to zero the risks of small cracks propagating further in the carbon fiber structure. Propulsion System The energy storage system goes hand-in hand with performance: each wheel incorporates an integrated electric engine, perpetuating the commitment to four-wheel drive and in the meantime harvesting the opportunities provided by electric motors: high torque, reversibility, and the possibility of moving energy by wire. This therefore also embodies the first steps for Lamborghini to go in the direction of creating a “Lamborghini Electric”. Moving the electric motors into the wheels has another positive effect: freedom for designers and aerodynamicists. Design This is the visionary outcome conceived by the Lamborghini Centro Stile to express future design elements, taking into account the radical changes in technology and anticipating elements of forthcoming Lamborghini design. An example for a very strong statement is the evolution and further development of the Lamborghini typical Y-signature in the front and rear lights. As a result of the change in technologies the design can be a radical expression of aerodynamic supremacy, based around an entirely new architecture, totally dedicated to perfecting airflow. A highly advanced monocoque based on Lamborghini’s Forged Composite technology can be modelled, containing only the energy accumulation system and driver’s and co-driver’s seats, inspired by race cars. Emotion Fundamental to the future is sustaining the emotion of driving a Lamborghini, and an immersive driver experience. The responsiveness of the electric motors, the four-wheel torque control and the dynamic body control system will enhance the driver’s experience, projecting it into the third millennium. Finally, the consequent aerodynamics and innovative lightweight approach will result in a new dimension of longitudinal as well as lateral dynamics, in this combination until today unknown from electrified cars. The virtual cockpit allows more than travelling the highways of a future world: its Piloted Driving simulation allows the driver to be taken around a track such as Imola by a virtual expert before the driver takes over to feel like a ‘pilot’ himself, experiencing the real car and circuit while following the virtual ghost car. Photos by: ramp Magazin / Matthias Mederer