V8-plus-electric Berlinetta hypercar promises McLaren P1-beating outputs
On March 7th at the Geneva motor show, Italian sports car maker Puritalia Automobili will reveal its Berlinetta. Blending traditional Italian craftsmanship with the very latest hybrid technology, the car will feature the brand’s own hybrid powertrain that combines a front-mounted V8 combustion engine with an ‘advanced axial flux electric motor’.
The quoted combined power output is 965bhp, which is backed up by a massive 920lb ft of torque. This means the Berlinetta outguns both the McLaren P1(903bhp, 664lb ft) and Ferrari LaFerrari (950bhp, 664lb ft), and only falls behind the Porsche 918 Spyder on torque (875bhp, 944lb ft). As much as 273lb ft of the Puritalia’s torque figure comes from the electric motor alone.
Every example of the Berlinetta will be built to its owner’s exact specification, and each customer will be provided with a personal design team to assist them during the specification and building process. The brand says the painting and finishing of the carbonfibre takes 800 hours alone – more than some mass produced supercars take to build entirely.
Alongside an all-carbonfibre body, the car sports a hybrid chassis comprising a carbonfibre central tub with aluminium subframes. The suspension plates are CNC-machined from a single aeronautical aluminium billet, while weight distribution is a perfect 50:50 front-to-rear.
One element of the car that the company is pushing is its use of artificial intelligence based software. Puritalia has used its own patented ‘Purhydrive’ technology for management of the electric motors – the system will learn the driving style of whoever is behind the wheel and calculate the best way to put the power to the ground for that driver. Even the exhaust doesn’t escape the technology, with the V8’s quad-tip titanium system receiving ‘smart electronic modulation’ and ‘active side pipes’. Inside, the company’s own infotainment system will feature, including speech recognition and the ability to control certain features via smartphone.
Just 150 examples of the Berlinetta will be produced and pricing information is yet to be announced.
This article originally appeared at evo.co.uk
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