On 14 December 2015, Mahindra Group acquired Pininfarina SpA, granting the Mahindra Group rights to its name. On 27 February 2018, Autocar India reported that Michael Perschke, former director at Audi India, will head a new Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. EV project. This project was later confirmed to be Automobili Pininfarina when Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. announced the launch of Automobili Pininfarina at the 2018 Rome ePrix, a Formula E electric car race, on 13 April 2018. It was here that Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of Pininfarina SpA, revealed that “this project me and my family to realize my grandfather’s dream of seeing outstanding innovative cars solely branded Pininfarina on the roads.” Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd Anand Mahindra later commented that “Pininfarina is a hell of a story. But it is an unfinished story. Mahindra will help Pininfarina finish that story and dream of having a ‘Pininfarina’ badged car." Automobili Pininfarina confirmed the joining of Luca Borgogno from Pininfarina SpA as its Design Director on 18 April 2018. At the same time, it was announced that Automobili Pininfarina will produce the first Pininfarina-branded "ultra-low volume zero-emissions luxury hypercar" from 2020. On 28 September 2018, Automobili Pininfarina introduced Formula E driver Nick Heidfeld as the Development Driver and brand ambassador. It also announced its technical partnership with Croatian electric car startup Rimac Automobili that will be supplying the EV powertrain and battery technology for the Battista. On 27 November 2018, Automobili Pininfarina announced that it had invested over €20 million in Pininfarina SpA for its service along with its new "PURA" design philosophy which promises a balance between design and engineering. At the Geneva Motor Show 2019 the Battista Hypercar was presented to the public for the first time. It has been launched globally throughout the same year.
Models
Battista
Originally announced as PF0, the Battista is the first Pininfarina-branded high-performance luxury electric hypercar. It is powered by a Rimac Automobili T-shaped 120 kWh battery pack and has four non-synchronous motors placed on each wheel. The car is built on a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and carbon fibre body panels to keep the weight low. Only 150 will be made, with a price of just under €2 million according to the manufacturer. According to Automobili Pininfarina the Battista has a power output of, has a top speed in excess of, can accelerate from in less than 2 seconds, and in less than 12 seconds. The range amounts to 500 km on a single charge and the hypercar can be recharged from 20-80% state-of-charge in less than 25 minutes.
