An all green Lamborghini

What do they have in common a park of oaks, of the very good honey, a farm with a natural gas plant and a Lamborghini? Much more than it seems, thanks to the environmental sustainability policies implemented since 2009 by the super sports brand that aims to launch the first full electric model by 2030.

The appointment is in Sant’Agata Bolognese, but when the chauffeur in front of the factory gates apologizes, turns around and heads towards the countryside, it is clear that it will not be the classic aseptic encounter with slides. Super cool tent accommodation, perfect for awakening the scout who lives in (almost) all of us. Dinner in a transparent tensile structure that makes a lot UFO, the English TV series of the 60s, a real cult of science fiction, with Commander Straker’s nehru jackets and Lieutenant Ellis’ purple hair. Rum-based night (you don’t drive a lot), chocolate and telescopes aimed at the sky where the astronomer Professor Federico Manzini amazes us by telling us about myths and science related to Cor Tauri, the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, symbol of the brand since 1998 controlled by Audi. But also the name chosen by Lamborghini for Cor Tauri management, that is the path started by the brand towards the decarbonisation of its future models. Upon awakening, free-range thanks to the crowing of roosters in the distance, the surprise of one mini walking session with the Olympic Gold of the Tokyo 2020 20km Antonella Palmisano. To then go into the oak wood and understand how the health of plants and bees that live under it, is a source of valuable information to determine the quality of the surrounding environment. And end the day at the factory, happily stripping off some Urus models in the area where the special requests of customers in terms of 95% water-based colors are usually met.

If you are thinking about the umpteenth green washing operation, you should suspend the judgment and read these data, paying close attention to the dates. In 2010 the plant is equipped with a photovoltaic plant of 15 thousand square meters, among the largest in the region with 2,500,000 kWh of electricity produced per year and a reduction in CO2 emissions of about 2,000 tons per year. 2011 is the year in which the Lamborghini Park was born where we ate, slept and madly loved the roar of an Aventador that passed nearby: it is a planting of ten thousand oaks, arranged according to precise patterns on the ground because part of a European research project in collaboration with the Universities of Bologna, Bolzano and Monk to study the CO2 absorption capacity (330 tons since its birth) and maintenance of local biodiversity. And always there, in 2016 the biomonitoring with the 600 thousand bees placed in 13 hives, tireless producers of 500 kg of honey every year, as well as strategic in monitoring CO2 levels in the area around the headquarters, not far away. Then it’s up to Torrre 1963 – the year the car manufacturer was founded – the ultra-modern building that stands on the factory that in 2017 obtained the LEED Platinum certification with a score of 92/100, the highest in Italy. But two years earlier, work had begun on the construction of two trigeneration plants, for the simultaneous production of heating, cooling and electricity through the use of natural gas as the only fuel, with the result of 20,000 MWh generated each year and the reduction of 1,640 tons of CO2 per year. In 2018, despite the doubling of the production site (from 80 thousand to 160 thousand square meters) the Carbon Neutrality certification. While on the Urus front, the company’s Super Sport Utility Vehicle, the new department 95% water-based paint allowed an energy saving of 25% compared to standard plants, the recycling of waste water in the business process (about 12% of the total consumption) and the 100% reduction of waste water in painting compared to traditional technologies. To get to the start of the environmental sustainability program for composite materials in 2020, with the recycling of 25 tons per year of carbon fiber waste and reconversion for the recovery of the fiber for various purposes including training and production of products in “recycled carbon fiber”. And this year, achieving the goal of transport by rail and no longer by road the bodies of the Urus, arriving from Germany.

If you are lost among numbers, percentages and tons, know that this is normal, yet the avalanche of data is necessary because it testifies to the commitment that is not at all a facade of the company. And because only with similar assumptions can one aim to materialize il next step, announced last May by President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann and reiterated during our meeting: decarbonization of all future models. On impact it is strange to imagine a hybrid Lambo, or better still full electric, but this is the direction taken by the brand, backed by an investment of 1.5 billion euros spread between 2021 and 2024.

After the celebration of the internal combustion engine which will be completed by 2022, in 2023 Lamborghini will launch its first hybrid series model, to have the entire electrified range by the end of 2024. After that, the first full electric Lamborghini will arrive in the second half of the decade. “And the noise?” it is the instinctive question that winds through the room, in front of a moving plate of passatelli. “No fear, performance and driving experience will remain the same, thanks to the development of new technologies and the use of lightweight carbon fiber materials, essential for reducing the weight due to electrification », replies Winkelmann. “Many of our customers are entrepreneurs who are already dealing with environmental impact issues in their fields, so they have welcomed our purpose,” he adds. In short, the Lambo will remain the super sportswoman that makes the heart beat faster, only that, soon, his will be a green heart.