Simply Abu Dhabi XXXV

Battista “Pinin” Farina formed his design company in 1928 in conjunction with car builder Vincenzo Lancia and later in 1951 he met with Enzo Ferrari and agreed to design some of their most beautiful cars. Today Pininfarina’s team has designed cars not only for Lancia and Ferrari but also for Honda, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Maserati, BMW, Renault and more. The business is divided into two with Pininfarina S.p.A. continuing to contract out to manufacturers as independent designers as well as for non-automotive projects like the new Istanbul Airport, the Juventus Stadium in Turin and the Princess 35 luxury yacht. A second business, Automobili Pininfarina however, is planning to build a full range of zero- emission cars starting with the Battista. “We are in a great position because the Pininfarina name has such great heritage as an established designer, yet we are also lucky to be perceived as being new with the freedom to introduce a completely new concept without carrying the baggage of heritage that weighs down other manufacturers.” Priced at AED7.3 million, the Battista needs to find well-heeled owners beyond the scope of normal Ferrari and Lamborghini buyers, but with a build run of just 150 examples, Borgogno is confident that buyers will be found. “The interest so far has been better than expected as we have had responses not only from typical supercar buyers and car collectors but also from people who are new to the exotic car scene having come from the EV side and who are interested in clean technology. “There are many wealthy people who choose to drive Nissan Leafs, Toyota Prius’ and Teslas for environmental reasons even though they like the thought of supercars and now they have the option to move into this territory for the first time.” With 50 cars allocated for North America, 50 for Europe and 50 for the rest of the world including the Middle East where they are being distributed through UAE-based Adamas Motors, Battista will be manufactured in Cambiano, Italy from the second half of next year. Mr Borgogno adds that this will be the first model from what will be a full range of high- end, zero-emission cars including SUVs even though they may not always be electric. “We are working on another sporty project and then we need to consider the SUV sector, though our plan is to never be mass market. We’re not saying we are an electric car company because in the future we may work with hydrogen or some other alternative fuel, but we don’t have any plans to produce an internal combustion engine-powered car.” Recently released EVs like the Audi E-Tron and Jaguar I-Pace use a skateboard chassis where the batteries lie flat across the floor which adds to the vehicle’s ride height that lends itself to their Cross-over SUV look, however the low-slug sports car layout of the Battista doesn’t work for this normal configuration. “A skateboard platform is impossible because it’s too tall. Having 140mm of ground clearance is not a sports car so the batteries are T-shaped behind the occupants in the carbon-fibre monocoque. This is perfect as the weight is centralised and kept inside the wheelbase which gives us a very low centre of gravity. “The most important thing is that the weight is exactly in the centre of the car so on the road it should be perfect, and its overhangs are tiny compared to a Ferrari.” Aside from its homegrown team of designers, Pininfarina has recruited an impressive list of names and companies to help with its progress. Former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld who has most recently been racing in Formula E knows a thing or two about getting the most performance from an electric car has joined as its chief test driver, while Croatian EV supercar manufacturer, Rimac, which is 10 per cent owned by Porsche and also works with Aston Martin, is taking care of the electrics. Dr Peter Tutzer has also joined after heading up the chassis work for Pagani, Bugatti and Porsche and along with other recent recruits, this small team has a history that includes development work for cars such as the Bugatti Veyron, Lamborghini Urus, Mercedes- AMG Project ONE, Pagani Zonda and Porsche’s Mission E electric car concept that has just gone on sale as the Taycan. Proving that it has no intention of being a one-hit wonder, Pininfarina has also announced its follow-up model, which will be a luxury car codenamed PF1 that will take the manufacturer into another new realm.