Lamborghini Jumps on the Green Wagon with Hybrid Sports Car

Published June 09, 2009

Way back in the early days of mainstream hybrid adoption (about 2004 or 2005), there was some concern among green types that even though the Prius was starting to take off in popularity, competing companies would adopt hybrid engines not as a way of boosting fuel efficiency, but to make for a more powerful driving experience.

The Honda Accord hybrid was a case in point: with a bigger engine and mediocre miles-per-gallon rating, it represented a kind of worst-case scenario for applications of green vehicle technology. Although Honda cut the high-performance hybrid Accord in June 2007 -- a "critical error" for which Honda "took one on the chin" -- green is still coming to sports cars.

The solar installation on Lamborghini's Italian factory.

In recent days both Lamborghini and Ferrari have announced plans for hybrid high-end vehicles. During the Geneva Motor Show at the end of May, Ferrari said it was building a hybrid drivetrain, which could debut at the end of this year. And earlier this week, as part of a larger rollout of green goals, Lamborghini unveiled its own plans for a hybrid vehicle.

The company plans to cut its company-wide CO2 emissions by 30 percent in the next six years, and will aim to cut its vehicles' emissions by 35 percent in the same timeframe. To achieve those goals, the company has begun adding a large solar power installation on its single factory in Sant'Agata Bolgnese, Italy.

And for the cars? Hybrid drivetrains, as well as some other technologies: The company cited hybrids, biofuels, start-and-stop systems and decreasing vehicle weight as some of the techniques it will use to cut back on fuel consumption.

Lamborghini has already put some improvements in place in its new Gallardo LP560-4 sports car, which has been tweaked to get 17 miles per gallon, up from 14 mpg in previous versions. That seems like a small feat, until you consider that the U.S. Department of Energy's FuelEconomy.gov website ranks Lamborghini as having the least fuel-efficient vehicles in the two-seater category: The Murcielago and Murcielago Roadster get a Hummer H2-level 8 miles per gallon in the city and 13 mpg on highways.

The relatively more fuel-efficient Gallardo LP560-4.

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