The days when a few manufactures reigned king of the supercar have come to an end over the last number of years. We’ve seen manufacturers like Pagani, Koenigsegg, and McLaren push out more road-going cars than ever before and we’ve seen tuning companies like Hennessy develop supercars of their own. This is where we meet Pininfarina. Pininfarina, like Hennessy and McLaren, is not new to car world. In fact, they’ve been around for over 80 years and have had their name on some of the best designed vehicles from automakers like Ferrari, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and more. Think the Ferrari 250GT is beautiful? You can thank Pininfarina. Same goes for the Alfa Romeo Spyder, Ferrari Testarossa, Maserati GrandTurismo and many more.
Today, Pininfarina has focused their eyes on something more than just providing other manufactures with beautifully designed cars. After Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd took ownership in 2015, Automobili Pininfarina was officially born. This would become the manufacturing branch of what had been a design company for more than half-a-century.
Pininfarina was not here to mess around and the results are impressive, in both looks and power. Perhaps the biggest point to note about the Pininfarina Batista is what’s powering it. Pininfarina teamed up with EV supercar maker Rimac (now majority owner of Bugatti) for powertrain development and the carbon fiber tub. That partnership produced a 120 kWh battery pack (sitting below the carbon tub) that powers electric motors in all 4-wheels. The electric motors pump out a mind-blowing 1,900 horsepower. That’s enough to reach 60 mph from a standstill in 1.8 seconds. Yes, that’s 1.8 seconds. You’ll be at very illegal speeds in no-time as the Batista will reach 186 mph in about 12 seconds flat. You’d better hope your stomach is ready, as g-force reaches 1.8gs on acceleration. Top speed? Another impressive number at 217 mph. So while you may not get the roar and screams of a V8 or V12, these performance numbers are no joke and have impressive company with already well-established gas-powered cars like Bugatti and Koenigsegg. Range isn’t too shabby either, with about 230 miles for a U.S. bound car. For those with anxiety about how long it takes to charge, Pininfarina claims you can get the battery pack from 20% to 80% in about 25 minutes.
Seeing the Pininfarina Batista in pictures is one thing, but getting to see the Batista in-person really helps one appreciate the beauty and technology of even more. It’s true to the exquisite Pininfarina design. It has a presence among other supercars. It looks more expensive. It looks faster. It looks like a car that takes all the bragging rights. It also comes with a price tag that supports those opinions too, with a price of $2,200,000 USD. If the price isn’t an issue for you, timing of you reading this article may be, as the Batista is limited to 150 units, all of which have been spoken for. Sorry- you’ll have to settle for a used one.
The car in the pictures here is finished in Arancio Ivory Satin, or Yellow as I call it. That’s just one of seven different color options available. All 150 units were customized to owner specs, so each one will have unique details, color combinations and interior materials.
