The Rimac-Powered Pininfarina Battista Has Officially Gone Into Production

Several years (and fifty gazillion press releases) after we first set eyes on the Automobili Pininfarina Battista, the first customer car has been built. In that time, even Lotus has debuted its new Evija hypercar.

Battista numero uno will be shown at a debut client test experience in Monaco. It will then go on display at the Monterey Car Week event in the US in August. While Pininfarina is a legendary coachbuilder behind countless car designs, the Battista will be the first car to wear its own badge and will be limited to just 150 examples. Clients will start taking delivery of the car this summer.

Each Battista is crafted by 10 people at Pininfarina’s factory in Cambiano, Italy. It takes about 1,250 hours to build each one, and the Battista Anniversario (a special edition limited to just five examples) takes 1,340 hours due to its hand-painted finish and special bespoke touches.

Its impressive numbers are quite simply mind-boggling. The Battista is blessed with a pure electric drivetrain sourced from Croatian speed merchants Rimac. It spreads an astonishing 1877bhp across all four wheels, making it almost 400bhp more powerful than a Bugatti Chiron while able to distribute torque fully independently to each wheel, for torque vectoring and traction control. The Battista has an astonishing torque figure of 1696lb ft.

Through that four-motor, all-wheel drive setup it will fire itself to 62mph in less than two seconds, or so the claims go, on the way to a top speed of 217mph. Perhaps most astonishing is the claimed 0-186mph time of less than 12 seconds.

The T-shaped battery pack sits low in the centre of the car, the main shaft within a ‘transmission tunnel’ and the cross-line behind the seats. The motors sit in pairs at either end, in line with the wheels. As the Rimac C_Two has two two-speed gearboxes for the rear axles, we’re sticking our necks out and speculating that the Battista will have the same arrangement – which also means that at high speeds it will become rear-wheel drive.

Range, despite a massive 120kWh battery capacity – three times that of a Nissan Leaf – is only 280 miles. That epic drivetrain must sap a lot of power. It also weighs about the same as an adolescent humpback whale.

Over the drivetrain is a Pininfarina-built carbon-fibre passenger cell fit for two. Wrapping that is a beautifully flowing and recognisably Italian supercar body that blends aesthetic grace with aerodynamic functionality. We’re reserving judgement on the customisable sounds feature, but apparently you’ll be able to choose different simulated noises for each of the five driving modes – Calma (Calm), Pura (Pure), Energica (Energetic), Furiosa (Furious) and Carattere (Character).

The inside is a neat mix of digital screens focused around the driver, plus pretty much whatever ultra-fine animal peel you want. Don’t ask for anything endangered. Suedes, Alcantara, metals and woods are all on the cards for trim inserts.

Interestingly, you can also specify the driver and passenger seats in differing colours, if you wish, change the colour of the ambient lighting or get the ‘Battista’ signature placed wherever you like.

The torturous job of putting the Battista’s vast torque down falls to a bespoke set of Michelin tyres moulded just for this car. Use that power often and you may as well put a bulk order in with your local tyre supplier.

As you’d expect, the carbon ceramic brakes behind those stunning 21-inch alloy wheels are massive and capable, with six-piston stoppers at the front and an active air brake at the back, which reverts to a spoiler when you get back on the power.

50 Battistas will be built for North America, 50 for Europe and 50 for the Middle East, making it a lot less rare than you’d perhaps imagine something like this to be. Nonetheless, its price is the last of those big numbers: you’ll need to find €1.98 million (around £1.67 million). Plus your country’s taxes.