Feel the power: three cars ready to electrify the 2019 Motor Show
It’s less than four weeks to the first big motoring event of the year, the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, and already the manufacturers are jostling for a place in the spotlight. As ever they don’t want to tell us the whole story – yet – but they do want to crank up the excitement with “teasers”. So which of these three new images of super-luxury electric cars from three of motoring’s greatest names has you most excited?
Lagonda All-Terrain Concept SUV
This gloomy image previews a bright new future for Aston Martin’s dormant heritage company, on the cusp of its reinvention as an all-electric super-luxury brand: Lagonda.
Last year at Geneva the all-electric intention, highly contemporary style and aspiration to compete at the very top end of the luxury market were all confirmed by the Lagonda Vision Concept saloon. But that will not be the first model into the showrooms around 2021. Instead, the first Lagona we’ll see on the road will be an SUV version of that concept, to be previewed at Geneva this year by the new Lagonda All-Terrain Concept.
A high-tech and dramatic looking rival for the Rolls-Royce Cullinan? That’s the plan. Aston boss Andy Palmer says: “The Lagonda All-Terrain concept offers explicit clues regarding what will be the first Lagonda model to enter production, and further demonstrates how Lagonda’s zero emission powertrain enables us to create spectacular cars that will radically redefine their sectors of the market”
Meanwhile the (petrol powered) Aston DBX SUV will be unveiled later in the year.
Pininfarina Battista hypercar
Plenty of cars have Pininfarina badges on them but only one has a “Battista” signature on its flanks. It’s the name the newly set-up Pininfarina Automotive company has decided on for its electric hypercar that will finally be revealed in all its Pininfarina-designed glory at Geneva this year.
We have had plenty of clues and pictures already about the multi-million pound machine, the first road car to deliver on Battista “Pinin” Farina’s dream to design, make and sell its own Pininfarina-branded cars. Today’s image, showing the signature badge, is another piece in what promises to be an intriguing (and very beautiful) hypercar story.
To recap: the Battista is all-electric, has mind boggling power (1,900bhp) and torque (2,300Nm, or 1,670lb ft), claimed acceleration of 0-186mph (0-300km/h) in under 12 seconds (and 0-62mph in under 2.0 seconds), and a range of 280 miles. One hundred and fifty are scheduled to be built from 2020, with 50 of them destined for European customers and available from new retail partners in Birmingham, London, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Monaco and Stuttgart.
Hispano Suiza GT
As teaser images go this one’s rather industrial looking – a not-very-sexy picture of what promises to be a very shapely car, not to mention blisteringly fast and luxurious. According to the new Hispano Suiza company it’s an “all-electric, hyperlux grand tourer” – so grand enough to mark the rebirth of what was, in the 1930s, a very grand automotive company indeed.
The new model to make its debut in Geneva this year is called the Carmen. It’s been named after Carmen Mateu, granddaughter of Hispano Suiza’s founder. The Spanish company is still owned by the fourth generation of the Suqué Mateu family.
The latest teaser image of the Carmen shows its carbon-fibre monocoque which, like the rest of the car, has been designed, developed and manufactured in Barcelona. “The super-stiff structure provides the foundation for the car’s exceptional luxury, comfort, innovation and attention to detail,” says the firm.
It doesn’t tell us anything about how the Carmen will look, but for that we have to remember the previous shadowy teaser image with its clear hints of what Hispano Suiza calls a “classically-inspired” design. Underneath promises to be a version of the battery electric running gear from the Mahindra Formula E racer developed in Barcelona by QEV Technologies.
Another debutant then high up on our list of cars to look out for when the doors to the 2019 Geneva Motor Show open on 5th March.
Geneva Motor Show
Geneva 2019
Lagonda
Pininfarina
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