Lambo’s hybrid Urus unleashed Down Under
BY NEIL DOWLING | 25th Nov 2024
MORE Australian women, per capita, buy a Lamborghini compared with any other country in which the Italian supercar-maker plays – and Australia is the brand’s 10th biggest market.
No surprise that with the entrant of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of its 'family focused’ Urus SUV, the brand will gain an even greater audience and a growth in women owners.
The Urus SE, the PHEV that replaces the first-gen petrol-only Urus, goes on sale this week at a cool $457,834 (plus on-road costs) and already the 2025 allocation has been accounted for with 2026 delivery slots now being filled.
Lamborghini region director of Asia Pacific, Francesco Scardaoni, said that in Australia, women account for more than 20 per cent of buyers “which is the highest percentage in the world”.
“Why? I think I would say Lamborghini design fits with the taste of female car drivers here,” he told GoAuto at the Urus SE launch in Perth.
“Lamborghinis are cars in which you can live your dreams and also use them every day. Of all the Lamborghinis, the Urus is pretty easy to drive and use for commuting and if you have kids, it has the comfort of an SUV with the space to bring up to four kids, or three plus the husband.”
The Urus SE supersedes the petrol Urus first launched in Australia 2018. The latest version runs a 456kW/800Nm 4.0-litre biturbo V8 attached to a 141kW/483Nm electric motor – for a combined 588kW/950Nm – mated to an all-new all-wheel drive system.
Although it looks pretty much the same, the latest model shares little with its predecessor.
The drivetrain is now hybrid, the body panels and accoutrements like headlights and taillights are different, and the drive goes from all-wheel drive through a centre diff to a Haldex system that allocates torque side to side, back to front, depending on a traction-focused electronic monitoring system.
Mr Scardaoni said the new drive system enabled Lamborghini to integrate torque vectoring.
“It allows us to have this fun-to-drive feeling,” he said.
“Drifting an SUV is not something that you’d normally think of as being possible. But in the Urus, with this new drive design, it is easy and even natural to drift. And, of course, to have so much fun.”
Putting it all on the road chops 0-100km/h acceleration down to 3.4 seconds and a sprint to 200km/h in 11.2 seconds, topping out at 312km/h.
Mr Scardaoni said Lamborghini started its hybridisation program in 2023 and said it is now on its way to being the first supercar manufacturer to have all its models with some form of electrification.
Unusually, no other Lamborghini model shares the same technology. The Urus SE is a plug-in hybrid with a 4.0-litre V8 and an electric motor; the Revuelto (replacing the V12 Aventador) is a plug-in hybrid with a V12 engine and three motors for 747kW/807Nm; and the Temerario enters next year with a 4.0-litre V8 and three motors for 676kW/730Nm.
Mr Scardaoni said the first production all-electric Lamborghini will be debuted globally in 2026. The Lanzador, the fourth of the brand’s model range and which looks like a high-riding Revuelto, is a 2+2 with room for two children in the rear.
“It’s important for us that each new model we present performs better than the one it replaces,” Mr Scardaoni said.
“But it is also important that we keep the internal combustion engine available for as long as possible. The plan for us is to keep going with hybrid powertrain as much as we can.”
Electrification also fits into an environment targeted by Lamborghini – the city dweller.
“It allows the car to be even more comfortable in crowded conditions,” Mr Scardaoni said of the hybrid system.
“If you’re driving out of a basement parking lot, for example, you don't disturb the neighbours because it operates up to 60km on electric-only drive.
“In many cities in Europe, the downtown area is restricted from ICE cars for noise and emission reasons. The hybrids are ideal in these circumstances.”
The Urus SE also features 11 driving modes triggered by the ‘tamburo’ drive mode selector that allows the driver to flick through six driving modes – Strada, Sport, Corsa, Sabbia, Terra and Neve – plus access another four ‘energy’ modes.
It also has adaptive air suspension, carbon-ceramic brakes (440mm diameter at the front, 410mm at the rear) and 23-inch wheels.
Lamborghini claims a fuel consumption average of 2.08 litres/100km (with a full battery offering 60km range) and when the battery is depleted, an average of 12.9L/100km.
The Urus SE has a three-year, unlimited distance warranty but the brand has an option of a three-year warranty extension.
