Pininfarina Reveals First Images Of The Apricale Interiors

Distinctive and original both inside and out for a full vision of a sustainable future.

The Apricale continues Pininfarina’s unparalleled legacy of designing exteriors and interiors of special cars, namely vehicles produced in limited series for lovers of unique cars. It is a synthesis of technology, sustainability, beauty, and, above all, performance.

Almost a year after its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Pinifarina reveals the interiors of the zero-emission hydrogen-powered hypercar styled by Pininfarina and developed by Viritech. It is finally possible to appreciate the work that our design team has carried out also on the interior of the hypercar, as well as on the breathtaking exterior, managing to look distinctive and original both inside and out, in today’s world of similar-looking hypercars, thus offering a full vision of a zero-emissions future.

In 2022, Viritech Apricale was announced as the first car in the world to achieve zeroemissions hypercar performance, with a weight of only 1,000kg. This transforms the driving experience of the Apricale. it combines the agility of the best petrolengined hypercars with the instant response of an electric motor. Indeed, the electric drivetrain means it is actually more responsive than a traditional hypercar.

However, the Apricale does more than simply transform the electric hypercar. With the combination of a light weight and zero emissions, it opens up a new world of sustainable transport. Many vehicles cannot function with a powertrain that weighs more than an equivalent internal combustion engine.

Until now, such vehicle categories have been excluded from the move to zero emissions powertrains, as batteries are always heavier than internal combustion engines – and the higher the power requirement, the bigger the difference.

The powertrain of the Apricale represents a historic landmark. It proves that a zero-emissions powertrain can offer the same power, the same weight and the same range as an internal combustion engine.

The ambition to overcome all the compromises of zero-emission vehicles required Viritech’s engineers to completely reconsider how fuel cells and batteries function together. Matt Faulks, Viritech’s CTO explains, “Hydrogen fuel cells have, until now, been used as range extenders for powertrains with batteries at their heart.nWe’ve essentially turned that approach on its head, developing a powertrain around multi-hundred kW fuel cell system supported by a lightweight but highly efficient battery. This delivers hypercar performance for Apricale, but at less than half the weight of typical BEV hypercars.”

Faulks continues, “Not only does this reduction in weight transform Apricale’s driving dynamics, but our reduced reliance on batteries means less demand on rare earth minerals.”.

The multi-hundred kW fuel cells are combined with unique Ultra High Power lithium-ion cells developed by technical partners, AMTE Power and Viritech’s patent-pending intelligent energy management system, Tri-Volt™. While the fuel cells provide the main motive power for Apricale, the battery provides additional power for acceleration and ultra-high performance driving, as well as a highly-efficient storage for regenerative braking energy.

The Tri-Volt Energy Management System and Viritech’s patent-pending power electronics enable a continuously variable mix of energy from both the fuel cells and the batteries. In addition, the very fast charge and discharge batteries enable the regenerative braking system to recover many times more kinetic energy than a traditional battery electric vehicle.