A Lamborghini Terzo Millennio sits in the garage. Image: Lamborghini
Lamborghini and MIT have formed an unlikely partnership to produce an electric car that also acts as a giant renewable energy battery.
The days of fuel-hungry supercars appear to be nearly over as the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini begin to release and experiment with hybrid and fully electric vehicles (EVs) that vastly outshine their predecessors in acceleration.
Now, Lamborghini has unveiled a concept car that appears to go above and beyond what we would expect a super EV to be able to do.
Having formed an unlikely partnership with MIT, Lamborghini recently unveiled the Terzo Millennio, envisioned as a supercar for those with enough money to afford one two generations from now.
According to CNet, the car has considerable power with four electric motors, each one behind a wheel. This, Lamborghini said, would take all of the mechanical components of the motor out of the chassis and give it more room to play with.
Concept image of the Terzo Millennio. Image: Lamborghini
Generates and stores energy
But what makes the car considerably different than other electric or hybrid supercars out there, such as the LaFerrari, is that the Terzo Millennio will, for all intents and purposes, be a giant renewable energy battery.
Rather than using a large lithium-ion battery, the Lamborghini car will use supercapacitors, which will let the car charge faster and withstand a greater number of charging cycles.
On top of that, MIT’s work in this area has led to the production of a carbon fibre body that turns the car’s entire shell into an energy storage medium.
This will cut down the car’s weight significantly, but will also be used to help the car find when cracks appear in the bodywork and direct a charge to that area.
In doing so, the car can begin a “self-repairing” process to prevent the crack from developing any further.
Concept image of the Terzo Millennio. Image: Lamborghini
However, given this is a concept car, it won’t be hitting the roads any time soon, especially as it doesn’t even have a functioning engine system yet.
MIT’s Prof Mircea Dinca, who was involved in the design of the car, said: “The new Lamborghini collaboration allows us to be ambitious and think outside the box in designing new materials that answer energy storage challenges for the demands of an electric sport vehicle.
“We look forward to teaming up with their engineers and work on this exciting project.”
