If you are going to construct an electrical SUV, it could as properly look cool, proper? That appears to be the guiding premise behind Pininfarina’s Pura Imaginative and prescient design idea, which is able to debut at Pebble Seashore and previews a attainable “electrical luxurious utility automobile” that they’ve dubbed “e-LUV”. To not be confused with the Chevy LUV.
To your first and most blatant query: Sure, it does have whitewall tires, probably the primary 23-inch whitewalls we have seen. And someway, that works! It additionally has forward-hinged doorways, rear-hinged doorways, and gullwing doorways. If the rear hatch had been a pair of Lambo doorways, that will actually cowl all of the sorts of doorways, however we’re nonetheless impressed. The gullwing sections span each the entrance and rear door openings and are hinged to a central overhead spine. Since there isn’t any B-pillar, opening every thing up creates a portal you might drive a Chevy LUV by means of. Whether or not this setup is production-feasible stays to be seen, however idea vehicles are speculated to be about probing the outer reaches of chance, not merely previewing a done-deal manufacturing automobile. (Except they’re Porsche idea vehicles. Then they’re most likely previewing a done-deal manufacturing automobile.)
The Pura Imaginative and prescient is a two-plus-two, within the method of the Ferrari Purosangue. Between the again seats is a wine cooler, and never the Bartles & Jaymes sort—it’s going to chill a bottle of your favourite plonk en path to the Hamptons, or Lake Tahoe, or wherever it’s that folks in Dubai drive for holidays. The upholstery on the higher seat backs and headliner is 30 % wool and 70 % recycled polyester, which the corporate says, “already meets Automobili Pininfarina sturdiness requirements for manufacturing automobiles.” (Feels like a touch, there.) The central touchscreen could be powered down into the sprint for these occasions if you’d prefer to banish touchscreens out of your subject of view for at the least a couple of minutes.
As for the powertrain, properly… this is not that type of idea. At Pebble, it’s going to be static. However the Pininfarina Battista has 1877 horsepower, so if an upcoming e-LUV obtained that powertrain, it could most likely be capable of tow a decent-sized Boston Whaler up the boat ramp. Even with half that corral, it could nonetheless be much more highly effective than any manufacturing internal-combustion SUV. Alas, we’ll have to attend and see on that, and pricing.
Whether or not horsepower is a four-digit quantity and pricing is a seven-digit affair is determined by how excessive upmarket Pininfarina intends to go. Primarily based on their current historical past, the reply there can be: all the way in which to the highest.
Senior Editor
Ezra Dyer is a Automotive and Driver senior editor and columnist. He is now primarily based in North Carolina however nonetheless remembers easy methods to flip proper. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and as soon as drove 206 mph. These details are mutually unique.
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