Lamborghini Urus To Lose Pure V8, Go Hybrid-Only From Late 2024

We've known for a while plug-in hybrid power is being worked on for the Lamborghini Urus for a release in 2024 but it comes as a surprise the electrified model will become the sole offering. CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Autocar the PHEV version of Sant'Agata Bolognese's immensely popular performance SUV will replace the current versions by late 2024. We'll remind you the Urus Performante debuted in August 2022 while the Urus S arrived a month later.

The hybridized Urus will stick around until near the end of the decade when a second-generation, electric-only model is set to launch. The plug-in hybrid SUV will be Lamborghini's second PHEV after the Revuelto, and there will be a third one next year when the Huracan replacement is going to be revealed. As to why the exotic Italian brand is jumping on the hybrid bandwagon, it can't be immune to increasingly stringent emissions regulations.

Lamborghini's head honcho mentions it's "incredibly costly" to make large-displacement combustion engines meet the latest Euro 6 standard, and it'll be even more of a burden when Euro 7 arrives in mid-2025. Seeing the glass half full, the Urus PHEV will be based around a V8, so it won't downsize to an electrified V6 that some of the other high-end VW Group models are using.

That said, the Huracan will lose its naturally aspirated V10 in favor of a smaller gasoline engine. Winkelmann specified the baby Lambo will get a fresh name and use an adaptation of the powertrain going into the Urus PHEV. That means we should expect a twin-turbo V8, an electric motor, and the newly developed eight-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission found in the Revuelto.

Lambo's boss believes the ICE doesn't have a bright future, especially in the European Union. He projects that even if sales of new cars with combustion engines won't be banned by law in 2035, taxes will be so high that people will switch to EVs. Winkelmann went on to add synthetic fuels could be a solution just to keeping existing vehicles alive, thus indirectly saying the future of car production will be about battery-powered EVs.

To that end, a 2+2 gran tourer coming in 2028 will be the brand's first model to do away with the combustion engine. Having unveiled the Revuelto only a few months ago, an electric supercar is not coming anytime soon. Winkelmann suggested that once the technology will be ready, it's going to be exhibited in a concept car to preview the road-going model. Considering the longevity of Lamborghini's flagship cars, the Revuelto won't be replaced until the early 2030s.