Lamborghini to launch a hybrid Gallardo by 2015

Photo Lamborghini Gallardo courtesy Lamborghini

Normally, you would not use the words hybrid and Lamborghini in the same sentence.  But everybody wants to jump on the green car bandwagon, so get used to it, because the super fast, super expensive car go hybrid by 2015, so start saving your pennies now.

The hybrid Lambo will arrive the same year as the hybrid Ferrari announced recently.  What a coincidence.  The Ferrari hybrid concept will be on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2009, and likely sooner, at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. 

News about the hybrid Lamborghini is in Popular Science, quoting an interview with Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann in the German car magazine Automobilewoche (Auto Week).

The hybrid Lambo will join other high-end names going green.  Mercedes is introducing two hybrids, the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid sedan, which uses a powerful lithium-ion battery, and the ML 450h hybrid SUV.  Both arrive the end of 2009.  And, the 2010 Porsche Cayenne hybrid SUV is also due the end of 2009.

The hybrid Lamborghini will have the same system as the 2010 Toyota Prius and other passenger hybrids -- an electric motor to propel the car fully at slow speeds, such as stop and go city and rush hour highway traffic.  A traditional, hunky Lambo 10- or 12-cylinder gasoline engine will take over at higher speeds.

There's an entirely different hybrid system currently used in both Formula One and Indy Car systems.  A hybrid Corsa Ginetta Zytek has been finishing in the top five in recent American Le Mans races. 

I've driven a Lamborghini Gallardo on a racetrack.  Yea, yea, I know -- tough job, but somebody's got to do it. There's a reason the Lambo's symbol is a raging bull, because it has its own mind.  I've also driven a Ferrari F430 on a racetrack -- same day, same track, both cars.  And there's a reason Ferrari's symbol is a prancing horse. 

Lamborghini, BTW, is owned by Volkswagen.  So is Bentley.

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