Pagani is planning on bringing a replacement to the Huayra with either gas or electric powertrains.
As far as Italian supercar makers go, Pagani isn’t exactly quick to pick up on the latest trends. It comes from making roughly 40 cars per year--that doesn’t leave much wiggle room to insert some innovation, such as an electric powertrain or even a mild hybrid.
While Pagani continues to make the Huayra Roadster and Huayra BC, their eyes are also turning to the far future where they must bring in the replacement to the Huayra. And it looks like Pagani might finally get with the 21st century and adopt an electric powertrain.
For some of the cars anyway.
Speaking to Road and Track at the Geneva Motor Show, Pagani head Horacio Pagani spoke through his son Christopher to explain that no currently existing Pagani customers have asked for an electric car, but they’re going to do it anyway.
"There have been no existing or prospective customers asking for a full-electric car," Christopher said. "No dealer is asking for it, but we believe in it. We believe that this is going to be a big challenge for us; it's going to help us to be very creative, to be very proactive, to use fantasy. It'll be a very expensive project, but we believe it is the right thing to do.”
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Internally, the Huayra’s replacement is called the C10, although don’t expect it to be called that once it arrives sometime in 2021. There will be two versions: one powered by a Mercedes-sourced twin-turbo V12 engine (just like the Huayra), and the other powered by an electric motor (or several of them).
The ICE version will have either a manual or dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters. About 70% of Pagani’s customers are asking for a manual, and when you only have 40 customers per year, you make what they want.
For the electric version, weight will be minimized through the extensive use of carbon fiber, but also aluminum and titanium. Like other supercar makers, lightness is prioritized when making EVs, and the technology is almost there.
But if you can’t do without a big V12, Pagani says not to worry: it’ll be homologated to be emissions compliant in all 50 states, including California.