- Pagani originally considered a V-8 hybrid powertrain for the Utopia
- Pagani also looked at an electric option for the supercar
- Pagani said none of its customers want a hybrid or EV
Pagani has only ever offered cars powered purely by V-12 engines, and it looks like that's the way it's going to be for the forseeable future.
Speaking to The Drive at the unveil of the 852-hp Utopia Roadster during 2024 Monterey Car Week earlier this month, Pagani founder Horacio Pagani said the company initially looked at a V-8 hybrid powertrain when developing the Utopia but ultimately decided on a V-12 engine, specially a further evolution of the twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12 that powered the Huayra, the supercar the Utopia replaced.
According to Pagani, who serves as the chief designer at the company he founded, the hybrid powertrain would have added too much weight to the Utopia, to the tune of 880-1,100 pounds. He also said his customers aren't asking for a hybrid powertrain.
“In reality, no one is interested in a hybrid car,” he said. “I believe that if you ask people, most of them will say that a hybrid is something extraordinary because it has all the problems of an electric car and all the problems of a combustion car, along with higher [development and maintenance] costs.”
Horacio Pagani
He gave similar reasons during a 2022 interview for why a planned electric option for the Utopia was dropped.
Should consumer trends change and more of his customers start demanding hybrid or even electric powertrains, Pagani told The Drive he's ready.
“Pagani is a family, we don’t have a massive automaker or conglomerate behind us, we have to build what the customer wants to buy and we have to have lots of technology to rapidly pivot in case we need to change,” he said.
Currently, Pagani's V-12 and planned further evolutions of the engine sit on the right side of emissions rules until 2031. However, the company plans to keep the V-12 alive beyond that date and will do everything it can to do so.
