Elite Traveler Winter 2023/24

DISCOVER

by Alexandra Cheney Motoring

Surpassing the power and prowess of supercars, hypercars belong in an even more rarified class of automobile. Their existence elicits questions that often double as exclamatory sentences: How fast is it?! It does what ?! On the following pages, this duo of hypercars — one electric, one internal combustion — redefine boundaries and push possibilities

Pininfarina Battista “It’s better if you start from a full stop,” the engineer in the passenger seat advised. Hands at nine and three, full exhale. “All clear,” the professional Italian race car driver exclaimed into the walkie-talkie. On an undulating road deep in Southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains, experiencing the full expression of the all-electric, 1,900 hp Pininfarina Battista is a breathtaking, cheek-flapping delight. The first time feels unreal. Even after the comprehension of Battista’s one motor for each wheel (which combined allows for a top speed of 217 mph) sets in, digesting a statistic like 0-60 mph in 1.79 seconds is very different than swallowing it in real time. Named for the company’s founder, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, the hypercar marks the Italian design studio’s first in-house production vehicle in its 93-year history. Although now owned by India’s Mahindra Group, throughout the 20th century Pininfarina continuously collaborated on exterior bodywork and styling with Ferrari (288 GTO), Alfa Romeo (Giulietta Spider) and Maserati (GranTurismo), to name a few. For its namesake debut, the company partnered with Rimac on the carbon-fiber monocoque chassis but its exterior

design styling is proprietary. As is to be expected, Battista exudes an edited, composed set of lines that begin at the U-shaped nose, extend around the exposed carbon-fiber belly and end at the active rear wing. No need for superfluousness here. The all-wheel drive automobile features a double wishbone suspension and semi-active dampers. Without losing power or control, Battista can flick between the five customizable drive modes (in order of intensity: Calma, Pura, Energica, Furiosa or the customizable Carattere). The 120 kWh lithium-ion battery can go from 20% to 80% in 25 minutes (depending on the charger) according to the company. It also touts a 300-mile range, if driven conservatively. From $2.2m, automobili-pininfarina.com