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Lamborghini outlines massive $1.8 billion plan to shift to electrification

Credit: Lamborghini

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Lamborghini is planning to shift from gas-powered to electric for its world-class supercars. The company recently outlined a $1.8 billion plan, its largest in history, to shift away from combustion engines and toward electrification.

CEO and President of Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann, presented the company’s plan to decarbonize its future models. Known as “Direzione Cour Tauri,” or “Towards Cor Tauri,” the roadmap shows how the Italian automaker plans to begin electrifying its fleet by utilizing its carbon-neutral site at Sant’Agata Bolognese in Northern Italy. The site has been free of CO2 emissions since 2015 and is the location of the Lamborghini Museum.

The focus is simple: continue making the legendary, high-performance cars that Lamborghini is known for, but make them environmentally friendly. Lamborghini will continue to identify technologies and solutions that guarantee top performance and driving dynamics that align with its “marque’s tradition.” A $1.8 billion (€1.5 billion) investment will be spread over four years.

It seems, according to Lamborghini’s press release on the matter, that the main goal is to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by the beginning of 2025. While Lamborghini will celebrate the combustion engine that has brought it to the peak of automotive performance, it plans to bring a fourth fully electric model in the latter portion of the decade.

Winkelmann said:

“Lamborghini’s electrification plan is a newly-plotted course, necessary in the context of a radically changing world, where we want to make our contribution by continuing to reduce environmental impact through concrete projects. Our response is a plan with a 360-degree approach, encompassing our products and our Sant’Agata Bolognese location, taking us towards a more sustainable future while always remaining faithful to our DNA. Lamborghini has always been synonymous with preeminent technological expertise in building engines boasting extraordinary performance: this commitment will continue as an absolute priority of our innovation trajectory. Today’s promise, supported by the largest investment plan in the brand’s history, reinforces our deep dedication to not only our customers, but also to our fans, our people, and their families, as well as to the territory where the company was born in Emilia-Romagna and to Made in Italy excellence.”

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Credit: Lamborghini

Lamborghini will complete the process in three phases: a celebration of the combustion engine from 2021 to 2022, a Hybrid transition that will have the company launch its first hybrid series production car in 2023 with the rest of the fleet being fully electric by the end of 2024, and finally, the first fully electric Lamborghini to be released in the second half of the decade.

The celebration of the combustion engine may appear to be somewhat ironic in Lamborghini’s plan to launch an electric fleet. However, the company intends to pay tribute to the success that was provided by combustion engine vehicles. It will announce two new V12 models later this year.

The Hybrid transition that is planned to occur by the end of 2024 will fuel the company’s initial attempts to develop a hybrid series production car. This timeframe will be crucial for engineers to learn how to develop high-performance vehicles while compensating for additional weight provided by the battery pack.

Finally, the first all-electric Lamborghini will be introduced in the second half of the 2020s. “Acceleration in the second part of the decade will be dedicated to full-electric vehicles, with the vision of a fourth model in the future. Once again, technological innovation in this phase will be oriented towards ensuring remarkable performance and positioning the new product at the top of its segment. This is how Lamborghini sees the culmination of this part of its journey: Cor Tauri, the brightest star in the constellation to which the company’s roadmap points, is represented by a fourth fully-electric model,” the company said.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

SpaceX just cleared a key FCC hurdle in its fight with Verizon and AT&T

The FCC accepted SpaceX’s bid for Grain’s 800 MHz spectrum, opening review for Starlink Mobile.

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A hand holds a smartphone displaying the Starlink Mobile app interface showing a strong “Connected – Direct to Cell” signal, with a Starlink satellite beaming connectivity signals down to Earth from orbit. The background features the planet’s night side glowing with city lights against the curve of the atmosphere, set above a scenic twilight landscape.

The Federal Communications Commission has formally opened its review of SpaceX’s plan to buy a nationwide block of 800 MHz spectrum from Grain Management, moving Starlink Mobile one step closer to operating as a full U.S. wireless carrier.

In a public notice issued Tuesday, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau said it accepted for filing the applications to transfer control of two Grain license companies, Prism License Co. 1 and Prism License Co. 2, to Starlink Spectrum Holdings, a wholly owned SpaceX subsidiary. The deal covers 546 paired licenses across 3,224 counties, reaching roughly 100% of the U.S. population in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The proceeding sits under WT Docket No. 26-313.

Acceptance is not approval. It means the applications cleared an initial review and the public comment window is now open. Comments and petitions to deny are due December 1, and oppositions are due December 8. The bureau also said the conditions attached to Grain’s July purchase of the licenses from T-Mobile, which require rapid buildout for terrestrial and direct to device service, would carry over to SpaceX if the transfer is approved.

SpaceX announced the agreement on October 8, saying the new airwaves would let Starlink Mobile’s signal reach phones inside buildings, something its 2 GHz spectrum from EchoStar cannot do as well. The portfolio includes up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum in the 817 to 824 MHz and 862 to 869 MHz bands, which most existing phones already support. Elon Musk called it “the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America.”

According to the filing, SpaceX would hold up to 89 MHz of total spectrum in any given market after the deal closes, including up to 14 MHz below 1 GHz. That is far under the 385 MHz threshold the FCC uses to flag a transaction for closer competitive scrutiny, and well short of the roughly 300 MHz each of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile holds.

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Tuesday’s notice does not decide how SpaceX can use the spectrum from orbit. A separate application SpaceX filed on October 27 seeking authority to provide supplemental coverage from space on the same frequencies, along with related waiver requests, is still pending before the commission.

The ground network is already taking shape. Last week, SpaceX picked Qualcomm to supply radios, baseband units and software for a nationwide 5G build, with deployment across tens of thousands of U.S. cell sites starting in 2027. The FCC also voted on October 29 to advance a proposal opening another 482 MHz to direct to device service, though AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile hacritive pushed to strip nearly 300 MHz from it. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has said service on SpaceX’s own airwaves is targeted for early 2028.

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Cybertruck

Tesla upfitter offers to keep Cybertruck alive

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Credit: Unplugged Performance

A Tesla upfitter has offered to take over Cybertruck lines from the company in a last-ditch effort to save the all-electric pickup from being completely canceled in the middle of 2027.

Unplugged Performance, the Hawthorne, California-based Tesla aftermarket specialist, has publicly offered to take over Cybertruck production from Tesla, funding the effort “through a consortium of investors.”

The proposal comes as Tesla prioritizes its Cybercab Robotaxi program and prepares to wind down Cybertruck assembly at Gigafactory Texas around mid-2027.

Founded in 2013 by Ben Schaffer and located adjacent to Tesla’s Design Studio and SpaceX, Unplugged Performance has become a leading provider of premium upgrades for Tesla vehicles, including extensive Cybertruck packages under its UP INVINCIBLE line.

Through its UP.FIT division, the company has also developed purpose-built police and fleet versions of the Cybertruck, including deliveries to agencies such as the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

In an X post on Tuesday, Unplugged said:

“An open offer to Tesla: We fully support putting Cybercab first, and we’d be glad to take the Cybertruck line off your hands. We’d fund it with a consortium of investors and run it at no cost to Tesla’s floor space, headcount, or focus. All of that goes to Cybercab. Cybercab gets first call on battery cells too. We’ll wait our turn. Tesla gains incremental profit: a license fee, plus FSD and Robotaxi network revenues on every vehicle built. We’d build the Cybertruck, a three-row CyberSUV, and an unmanned CyberCargo hauler. More autonomous miles, across every surface of this planet and beyond. Worth a conversation?”

The arrangement would free Tesla resources and manufacturing capacity for Cybercab while allowing continued production of the stainless-steel pickup and expanded variants. Unplugged Performance indicated it would wait for battery cells after Cybercab needs are met and would generate ongoing revenue for Tesla through licensing and software/network services on the vehicles it produces.

Following strong initial interest, Unplugged Performance posted a follow-up inviting potential investors and strategic partners to email cyber@unpluggedperformance.com. The company clarified that the outreach is solely to gauge interest and does not constitute an offer to sell securities or acceptance of funds at this stage.

The proposal arrives shortly after Elon Musk indicated that Cybertruck production in Texas would be phased out by roughly the middle of 2027 to expand Cybercab output.

Whether Tesla engages with the offer remains to be seen, but the public overture highlights both the aftermarket specialist’s deep experience with the Cybertruck platform and the growing focus on autonomy within Tesla’s manufacturing plans.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk says Tesla Cybercab future is ‘obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain’

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Elon Musk said the Tesla Cybercab will perform “a majority of all passenger miles” where it is allowed to operate and that point is “obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.”

Musk used the point to double down on the company’s decision to ax the cult-favorite Cybertruck, as its production space will be removed and transitioned into additional Cybercab lines. The move has catalyzed a polarizing conversation on whether its right or wrong.

Whatever side you are on — it’s happening.

Regardless, Musk seems to be getting to the point that he is done talking about the choice. At some point, you have to think that this was truly a difficult decision for him and the company as well, and this is not something he took lightly. In fact, he’s probably a little bit disappointed with it, too.

But the point remains that the Cybertruck is gone. Musk’s focus is purely on developing an autonomous platform that the world will utilize for transportation, and he’s telling you that anyone “with eyes and a brain” can see it:

Tesla is betting that all of its passengers in the future will be okay with not owning their own personal cars and will be fine with ride-hailing for the rest of their lives. Every dinner, every errand, every trip to the airport and transportation thereafter, will all be operated by ride-sharing, and in Tesla’s perfect world, it will happen in a Cybercab.

As of now, Cybercab is only active in Austin, but it has been spotted all over the country with a driver behind the wheel in those prototypes. In Austin, the car has no steering wheel or pedals for people to control the vehicle.

The Cybertruck dilemma is one that has truly come across the entire Tesla community and while it seems to be a great idea to keep it because people love it, the business side of things is steering Musk and Tesla in another direction.

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