One thing has become clear as electric vehicles continue their inexorable rise across the globe (apart from the USA): people who drop hundreds of thousands on supercars aren’t that interested in EVs. The fantastic Rimac Nevera hasn’t been selling as well as it should, Maserati has postponed its plans for an electric MC20, and Ferrari is focusing on an SUV for its EV plans. Partial electrification is a different story. Even Bugatti launched its first hybrid car, the Tourbillon, last year, but Lamborghini is leading the way combining electric and combustion for maximum performance. Now the company’s entire range is electrified. I took the company’s latest hybrid supercar, the Lamborghini Temerario, for its first drive on public roads.
Lamborghini Temerario: Next Step In An Electrified Journey
Lamborghini is particularly famous for its V12 engines, going right back to the first 350GT. But there are emissions regulations to contend with, so it has been shifting towards hybrids since the Sián FKP 37 in 2019. The Revuelto, launched in 2023, moved the technology much further forward, levelling up from the Sián’s single electric motor with 34hp to three delivering 187hp. The Temerario takes another leap, with its three electric motors offering a theoretical maximum of 444hp, although the output of the battery limits this.
Absolute purists might decry the hybrid direction, but it has benefits for the driving experience as well as lowering CO2 output (at least during testing…). Not only do the electric motors enable a silent start and immediate torque, but they also smooth the gearchanges so that acceleration is continuous rather than lumpy. They make a good DCT gearbox even better.
For the Revuelto and Temerario, Lamborghini has been integrating electric motors from British company YASA. Now owned by Mercedes, YASA builds innovative axial flux motors that lead the market in power to weight ratio. The company recently announced a density of 79hp per kg for its latest motors, although the versions used by Lamborghini aren’t quite so powerful. But they’re perfect for a supercar where you don’t want to pile on too much extra weight.
None of Lamborghini’s hybrids lose their internal combustion credentials, however. The Revuelto, successor to the Aventador, still sports a roaring naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 alongside its electrified elements, delivering an insane 1,001hp combined. The Temerario has opted for a turbocharged V8 instead, and “only” offers 907hp in total. As the Huracan’s replacement, it’s down two cylinders, which is a shame when the V10s have been so good. But the new V8 is entirely built by Lamborghini in Italy, rather than Audi derived, so the Temerario is more completely a Lambo.
Although both these cars are plug-in hybrids, most owners are probably never going to bother plugging them in. The AC-only charging port of the Revuelto is inside the frunk at the front, so you’d need to have this open – something you’d only want to do in a locked garage. The Temerario does have an external port. However, in both cases the battery is just 3.8kWh, so the car won’t go far on electricity only, making charging a bit pointless. Instead, they act more like the KERS system on a Formula 1 car, harnessing energy when braking or from extra motor revs, and then delivering it for an acceleration boost.
Driving The Lamborghini Temerario: Hybrid Power Boost
The question is therefore how the electric motors affect the most important thing about a Lamborghini: how it drives. Lamborghini uses the same setup for both the Revuelto and the Temerario, employing one electric motor alongside the combustion engine to help it drive the rear wheels, while the other two power the front wheels. In other words, both cars are four-wheel-drive, with power distributed as required to maintain traction.
Having driven the Revuelto and Temerario back-to-back, I found them to be quite different beasts. Both are insanely quick in a straight line with incredible amounts of cornering grip. However, the Temerario felt like a car you could more easily live with on a day-to-day basis than the Revuelto. The slightly smaller size – 4,706mm (185in) long instead of 4,947mm (195in), and 1,996mm (78.6in) wide instead of 2,033mm (80in) means it fits better on average roads. The Temerario’s shorter wheelbase gives it more chuckable handling, too. Strangely, the Temerario also wants to step out more under hard acceleration, although the traction control allied with that four-wheel-drive system rapidly compensates.
Both are incredible driver’s cars, of course, but the Revuelto is a bit more of a classic super / hypercar. It feels like a vehicle that is meant very high speeds on good roads, especially on track, whereas the Temerario lends itself to more frenetic driving and road usage. Part of this is because it weighs 1,690kg (3,726lbs), versus 1,772kg (3,907lbs) for the Revuelta. That’s still more than 250kg heavier than the outgoing Huracan. Nevertheless, The Temerario feels like it could be more of a daily opiton, and easier for a less accomplished driver to get to grips with.
One of the key reasons why you buy a supercar with an internal combustion engine is the sound, however. The Revuelto’s V12 makes a glorious racket without needing to be hammered too hard, and delivers oodles of drama when revved close to the max. The Temerario’s turbo V8 is a little harder to coax into a heart-thumping symphony, however. It’s reassuringly noisy for sure, but the acoustics aren’t as engaging at lower revs. It sounds much more agricultural than the Revuelto. The red line is at 10,000rpm and you need to push it past 7,000rpm before it really sings with truly arresting spirit.
This is partly because the Temerario’s V8 is turbocharged. However, there’s no obvious lag, thanks to the electric motors, which take care of the more limited power of a turbocharged engine at lower revs. This is an insanely quick car with very progressive power delivery, dispatching 0-62mph in 2.7 seconds (compared to the Revuelto’s 2.5 seconds). However, the ease of delivery, and the torque vectoring ability to save any loss of traction (at least in dry conditions) make it less intimidating to drive fast than some supercars. The Maserati MC20 (now MCPura) feels like the closest competitor, balancing tolerance of daily use alongside brutal performance on tap when desired.
The Temerario’s top speed is 213mph, and it feels quite manageable even at 150mph, which is perhaps not a good thing for those who want to keep their license and stay out of prison. Dials on the steering wheel let you choose between driving modes, including Strada for everyday usage and Sport for unleashing the whirlwind. Another dial below lets you choose between harder and softer chassis or suspension setups. The gearbox is a dual-clutch robotic manual with flappy paddles, although the automatic option does a pretty good job, making driving in traffic a breeze.
Customization: Making The Lamborghini Temerario Your Own
From the front, the Temerario is typical Lamborghini – a wedge-nosed, mid-engined supercar. The styling is a little less angular than recent models, moving away from the fighter jet looks. The main lights are thinner slits than the Revuelta, with hexagonal LED rings beneath. The hexagon is a characteristic Lamborghini design motif. The doors are conventional rather than scissors, which is rather restrained for Lamborghini. Various side ducts feed air into the engine bay behind the driver.
However, the posterior is particularly aggressive, with a lot of the rear tires visible from behind. This lends an almost offroad appearance, which won’t be something you’ll be doing with the Temerario. The engine bay is visible, showing off that V8 in all its glory, and a hexagonal exhaust sits high up alongside hexagonal rear lights (sensing a theme here?)
Of course, there are options – and plenty of them. The big one is the Allegerita Pack, which only reduces weight by a little over 25kg but adds a longer carbon splitter, side skirts, larger side air intakes and a more effective spoiler. All this together allegedly adds 67% more downforce and 62% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. This will give you more grip and turn the road-oriented Temerario into more of a track weapon.
However, one of the things that separates a Lamborghini from competitors like Ferraris, McLarens or Maseratis is how many options there are. You can make a Lambo look unique both inside and outside – with results that are often as loud as the exhaust note, like the purple Temerario I test drove. Incredibly, 26% of Lamborghini’s turnover in both 2023 and 2024 came from customization via its Ad Personam options system, and customers placed this facility as the leading reason why they chose the brand. In other words, about a quarter of Lamborghini’s business is derived from purchasers making its cars their own.
Lamborghini offers four tiers of customization. First is the customization a customer can do on the Lamborghini website and app. The next level is where they go to the dealership to access the more extensive Ad Personam system, which offers a wider variety of paint choices, interior materials and trim. Above that, customers can engage with Lamborghini’s lounges, currently in New York City and Tokyo but soon to expand to Miami. This adds yet more options. This level is also available at the Studio in Lamborghini’s production facility in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
The latter is also the only place where certain extremely expensive exterior options can be chosen, such as crystal paint, certain fades, and a lacquer surface that incorporates real crushed diamond powder, which can add as much as 150,000 Euros to the price. Combining crystal paint and diamond surface treatment can add as much as 300,000 Euros on their own.
Lamborghini even offers a special ceremony for 80 customers per year called La Prima. These buyers attend the handover at the Lamborghini facility in Sant’Agata Bolognese, which also involves special gifts. The customer can then drive their car away if it’s destined for Europe, or otherwise it will be shipped to its final country of residence. This ceremony is supposedly very emotional for the customers, although my British cynicism found some aspects over the top. But it could be rather special for someone who always dreamed of a Lamborghini and has finally been able to afford one.
Of course, the price difference between the Revuelto and Temerario reflects their alternative focus. The base for the Revuelto is around £452,000 ($608,000 in the USA), while the Temerario is a “much more affordable” £260,000 ($360,000 in the USA). The (relatively) big-selling Urus is Lamborghini’s true volume seller, and the company’s closest offering yet to an everyday family vehicle. But the Temerario has some of the mainstream potential of the Gallardo, Lamborghini’s previous biggest sales success. Unlike the latter, however, the Temerario has a combustion engine built exclusively by Lamborghini rather than from parent company Volkswagen Group, justifying its much larger price tag.
Lamborghini Temerario: A Modern Supercar With True Lambo Credentials
The Temerario is another example of how hybridization is nothing for combustion engine lovers to get upset about. It’s not really the green contributions that matter, and the electric motors aren’t going to do a lot for fossil fuel consumption anyway. But Lamborghini says its average supercar does around 600 miles a year, so these vehicles are hardly major CO2 contributors.
With the Temerario, and the Revuelto, the electric motors refine the experience, making both cars surprisingly easy to drive. They also help prevent the less accomplished driver not get caught out when driving more spiritedly, without detracting from the fun. Sure, the Temerario’s turbo V8 doesn’t sound as good as the Revuelto’s V12, but it’s still dramatic. The Lamborghini Temerario will make any owner love driving anytime they head out in it – even if they’re just going shopping.
