The path to high-end electrification has been a bumpy one, and some manufacturers are navigating it more effectively than others. Ferrari’s first attempt at a plug-in performance machine, the SF90 Stradale, has experienced unprecedented depreciation in a segment of cars that typically gain value after purchase, rather than lose it. The first all-electric Prancing Horse, meanwhile, is scheduled for release next year.
Just up the road in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Lamborghini seems to be doing just fine. The company is taking its time before releasing its first full-on EV (we’ll have to wait until the end of the decade for that), but every model Lamborghini makes is already available as a plug-in hybrid. A core focus on fun and outrageous style means the addition of batteries and motors hasn’t impacted the desirability of the brand’s machines at all.
The addition of electrification to the Urus SE just made that SUV even more wild, while the three motors in the 1,001-horsepower Revuelto just serve to keep its V12 in check. It’s much the same story with the company’s newest car—and its latest PHEV. It’s the 907-horsepower Temerario. It, too, has a trio of electric motors paired with a high-strung internal combustion engine, but with a wild personality that puts even the Revuelto to shame; it’s the new jewel in the Lamborghini lineup.
The Heir Apparent
The Temerario replaces the Huracán, which has served as the brand’s entry-level sports car for a full decade. That model underwent numerous iterations between 2014 and 2024, gaining power, poise, and even improved ground clearance in its final form, the all-terrain Sterrato.Â
But it’s gone now, replaced by the Temerario, a machine that’s propelled by a twin-turbo V8, not the V10 of before. Typically, such downgrades are cause for sadness, especially given how epic the V10 was in the back of the Huracán. But Lamborghini has created a marriage of combustion and electrification so extreme in the Temerario that it’s impossible to view it as anything other than a considerable upgrade.
Here, the trio of electric motors isn’t just there to boost efficiency; it’s actually designed to address the shortcomings of the car’s engine. Engines are generally tuned to deliver their power in a specific way, often focusing on big, stump-pulling torque at low revs or thrilling power delivered at high RPMs. Rare is the engine that can do both.
For the Temerario, Lamborghini designed an engine optimized for peak power at high RPM. In this case, an engine that can spin all the way up to 10,250 RPM without flying apart. This kind of rotational fury is usually only sustained by tiny motorcycle engines. Adding a pair of turbochargers to the mix means even more power, but worse performance at low revs.
That’s where the electric motors come in.
Electric Torque
The first motor, the largest one, is embedded directly in the engine and is primarily designed to provide a much-needed surge of torque when the engine is at lower RPMs, like when accelerating away from a stop sign.
Once the engine spins up to a higher RPM, turbochargers gain boost, and the combustion cycle gains momentum. At this point, the motor is used less for power and instead is more there to keep the engine in check. It effectively adds a regenerative braking effect, pulling power from the engine to prevent the rear wheels from spinning.
The other two motors are located at the front of the car, providing the Temerario with all-wheel drive. They certainly can help make this car more stable in low-grip conditions, like rain or snow, but when the asphalt is dry, those motors are actually used to make the Temerario feel more lively.
“The idea of this car is that we wanted to have a little bit more agility, a little bit more playful character,” Lamborghini CTO Rouven Mohr told me. “This means you need a little bit more rotation in the car.” More rotation means more fun.
Driving and Drifting
How does it all come together? Surprisingly well, especially in the Temerario’s new Drift mode. Dial up Drift mode to 3 (its highest setting) and, when you turn into a corner, the car actually applies regenerative braking to the inside front wheel. It uses the torque-vectoring rear differential to apply power to the outside rear wheel.
The result is a car that just immediately pivots and slides into the corner far more easily than a super sports car riding on sticky 21-inch rear tires should. On my very first attempt, I got the tail sliding through a tight hairpin on the Estoril circuit in Portugal, that slide only getting better on subsequent attempts.
But most of the time on the track, I wasn’t trying to slide the car. Instead, I was focused on driving fast. And fast the Temerario is. I didn’t hit 213 mph, the car’s top speed. There simply wasn’t enough room for that. However, I did manage to reach 190 mph on Estoril’s front straight. At that speed, the Temerario was perfectly smooth and stable, even when I jumped on the brakes as hard as I could to slow down for the track’s tight first corner.
Some of that stability comes from the longer wheelbase the Temerario offers, 1.6 inches greater than the outgoing Huracán. The car itself is about 10 inches longer, and, worst of all, it has gained some 300 pounds over the car it replaces. More weight is never a good thing in a machine like this, but the Temerario hides it well.
Decision Time
The combination of the car’s innate balance and grip, plus all the digital trickery happening at the front axle, creates a vehicle that feels light and nimble. Mohr said they wanted the Temerario to be playful, and that it certainly was, feeling far more exciting on the track than the even bigger, even heavier Revuelto.
In fact, even if they cost the same, were I to have to choose, I think I’d have a Temerario. However, the good news is that they certainly don’t. While you’re looking at well over $600,000 to get yourself into a Revuelto, the Temerario starts at just over $380,000. For that, it feels like a total bargain.
That said, it’s not a perfect car. I must admit that I do miss the sound of the Huracán’s V10, and I think that car is far better looking than the Revuelto, which to the world appears to be a race car that escaped the paddock and is roaming free. Don’t get me wrong, the overly perforated, exceedingly ventilated racer look is cool in its own right, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the style of the Huracan.
The mediocre 7 miles of all-electric range in the Temerario is also a bit of a disappointment. Still, these are all minor complaints in what is not only an engineering master class but a genuinely great car. Lamborghini may not be leading the pack in the race to full-bore electrification, but it’s clearly chosen the right path, creating a trio of vehicles that are made more fun and desirable thanks to, and not despite, their batteries.
