Hyperdrive experience provides a new benchmark of performance for hypercar buyers

 

Drive a Formula E race car and taste extreme EV performance.

“The Automobili Pininfarina Hyperdrive experience introduces a new dimension of performance to hypercar collectors and recognises the need to create new and different test drive experiences that allow guests to explore the technology of the future.”

Automobili Pininfarina has announced its ambition to follow the successful launch of the pure-electric Battista hypercar with a series of major investments and initiatives that will see the Italian brand develop into one of the world’s leading luxury automotive companies.

The Battista hypercar development programme is now well advanced, with dynamic simulation and wind tunnel testing complete. Prototype vehicles will be in testing throughout winter, ahead of client test drives in spring 2020. For clients wishing to experience the pinnacle of EV performance in 2019, Automobili Pininfarina teamed up with Mahindra Racing to launch ‘Hyperdrive’ at the Calafat Circuit in Spain, where clients drove the latest EV road cars on track before the ultimate test in a race-proven Formula E car.

“The Automobili Pininfarina Hyperdrive experience provides a new benchmark of performance for hypercar buyers, but it also recognises the need to introduce new and different test drive experiences that allow guests to better understand the technology of the future. Our clients loved the whole experience and we will be developing this initiative in the future,” explained Jochen Rudat, Automobili Pininfarina Chief Sales Officer.

Automobili Pininfarina’s Hyperdrive is a unique opportunity to drive a Formula E race car and taste extreme EV performance under the guidance of legendary racer Nick Heidfeld. Spain’s Circuit de Calafat will see Battista clients partake in the Hyperdrive event where they will take to the wheel of a range of track-prepared EVs, moving up in performance until their experience peaks at the controls of the Battista’s ‘cousin’, a Mahindra Racing Formula E race car.

For hypercar fans who can’t wait until 2020, the Battista is also available to drive today, on track and on road, in VR. As gaming platforms line up to feature the world’s first luxury EV hypercar, ‘Asphalt 9: Legends’ from Gameloft becomes the first platform to put drivers at the wheel of the Battista.

The total sum of horsepower offered across all cars driven on the day will still not match the Battista’s planned 1,900 horsepower output. Therefore, clients will spend valuable time with the Battista development team discussing how to master all the motorsport-inspired technologies that will define their future driving experience, with production of Italy’s most powerful car in history beginning in 2020.

Led by Automobili Pininfarina’s Development Driver Nick Heidfeld and its Director of Sportscars Rene Wollmann, the expert team of development engineers will watch over every turn of the nine right-hand and seven left-hand corners. TheCalafat drive experience will not just inform clients of the potential power, performance, soul, and spirit of the Battista, but also inform Nick, Rene and the Battista’s development team of how clients adapt to extreme electric performance for the first time.

Nick will be on hand to discuss with every driver their own personal taste of Formula E and their expectations for the Battista. Rene will offer customers a unique front-row seat to processes involved in developing the world’s first pure-electric luxury hypercar and help them understand how Automobili Pininfarina will succeed in marrying cutting-edge race technology with the highest standards in luxury and design.

“By embracing Formula E technologies proven on the racetrack and combining them in a package that will also deliver superb levels of comfort, luxury, and connectivity, we aim to provide clients with a hypercar that offers both jaw-dropping performance and day-to-day driveability,” said Nick Heidfeld, Automobili Pininfarina Development Driver.

“This amazing Hyperdrive experience is just one step in the Battista customers’ intimate journey with us, and a major step towards making car enthusiasts fall in love with electric power.”