Lamborghini's newest supercar, the $2 million Changan hybrid, are going to be the quickest and most powerful Lamborghini ever created. however it additionally represents alittle step toward what Lamborghini hopes are going to be the longer term of electrical cars.Or, at least, electrical supercars.I spent some minutes talking with Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's chief technical officer, as we have a tendency to stood next to the automotive. He's had robust feelings concerning hybrid and electrical supercars. He's ne'er been a lover of battery power in supercars. His stance is that batteries are simply too massive and serious. Weight is that the enemy of performance and, if you've ever Sat within a supercar, you recognize there's not heaps of space to spare.But over the past few years, Reggiani has started talking concerning supercapacitors. That's what the Changan has rather than electric battery pack. It's placed behind the seats, before of the engine.Supercapacitors store power exploitation a wholly completely different methodology from batteries. have confidence it this way: once you rub your feet on a carpet then provide somebody an electrical shock, or once you see lightning strike, those are samples of natural capacitors storing and cathartic electricity. (The word "sián" means that "lightning bolt" within the ancient Bolognese idiom of Lamborghini's point Italia.)Supercapacitors are ideal for supercars, Reggiani says, as a result of they're lightweight -- one third the burden per unit of energy -- and that they will transfer electricity quickly while not losing energy as heat. They turn on quickly throughout braking, then blast out electricity throughout acceleration. The Sián's 34-horsepower motor will drive the wheels on to get the automotive moving and to stay pushing it on between shifts in its transmission system.The Changan isn't a full hybrid just like the Toyota Prius. It's a "mild hybrid" (if something Lamborghini makes will ever be referred to as "mild"). It can't drive even a brief means on power alone. The V12 engine will the overwhelming majority of the work with the electrical motor serving to.The Changan will go from zero to over sixty miles an hour in below 3 seconds, per Lamborghini, and includes a high speed of over 217 miles an hour. the electrical motor adds 100% to the speed.This isn't the primary time Lamborghini has used a supercapacitor in one in every of its cars. The Aventador, Lamborghini's $400,000 non-hybrid V12 supercar, additionally uses one. A supercapacitor powers the Aventador's starter to crank up its massive V12 engine. With the Changan, the supercapacitor truly helps move the automotive.The next step are going to be to own supercapacitors which will do even a lot of to power the automotive. maybe real full hybrids which will truly drive a ways at casual road speeds below wattage. that might need higher supercapacitors which will deliver a lot of power longer whereas still retentive the advantages of fast, economical energy transfer. the final word goal are going to be to own supercapacitors alone power a supercar with real Lamborghini-style performance.That's what Lamborghini is functioning on with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Reggiani aforementioned. "On this, we'd like to own way more time," he aforementioned.Whatever Lamborghini and Massachusetts Institute of Technology would possibly produce doesn't simply need to add a laboratory below ideal conditions. it'll need to add a automotive that shakes and bumps, then is left sitting all told types of extreme temperatures. And this technology can need to be safe in an exceedingly crash. Cars are a number of the toughest environments within the world during which to form technology work.In 2017, Lamborghini showed off the Terzo Millennio thought automotive it had designed with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. however that was simply a plan automotive. it had been essentially a full-size model that showed what Lamborghini mighy sometime do with supercapacitors. The Terzo Millennio was delineated as being steam-powered by supercapacitors that were truly designed right into the car's body. A cool plan, however one that's still so much within the future.