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Pininfarina grows its U.S. footprint in early bid for EV hypercar market control

Pininfarina Battista Photo: James Lipman

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Automobili Pininfarina has announced today that it is again expanding its dealership network in the United States as it looks to take advantage of the small number of electric hypercars currently on the market.

With Pininfarina’s relationship with Ferrari essentially coming to an end in 2017 with the release of the Ferrari-designed La Ferrari, it was no surprise that the famous Italian brand decided to build a car of its own. Still, the fact that its first offering, the Pininfarina Batista, would be electric was a shock to many. Now, the luxury Italian hypercar maker is looking to double down on its lead as it announces yet another dealership as part of its network in the United States.

Pininfarina’s newest dealership is Salt Lake City Motorcars in Utah, the company’s 11th dealer in the U.S., following the establishment of a brand new network of dealers that began in 2021. But if you want one of Pininfarina’s exclusive electric hypercars, you might already be too late, as the company will only be making 150. In one of their most recent showings at Monterey Car Week, the exclusive “Anniversario” edition sold out by the end of the event.

 

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In the world of hypercars, the Pininfarina Batista is a rare breed. Besides the Rimac Nevara, which the Batista is based on, the Lotus Evija, and some assorted EV startup offerings, the market is quite barren. This is especially the case when looking at traditional segment leaders, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, McLaren, or even Pagani, who have yet to dip their toes in EVs. Moreover, mainstream brands like Porsche, Mercedes, and Audi have yet to electrify their highest-performance offerings.

Lamborghini outlines massive $1.8 billion plan to shift to electrification

“This masterpiece of Italian design is the very pinnacle of performance and luxury,” says Gösta Henning, Chief Sales Officer of Automobili Pininfarina. “With its sophisticated electric powertrain and unprecedented power. We have made a fantastic start in North America with Battista and we look forward to building momentum in an extremely important region through our collaboration with Automobili Pininfarina Salt Lake City.”

While it can be hard to quantify the demand for hypercars due to the nature of their limited production runs, there is no question that the Pininfarina Batista is bringing something new to the table. While retaining the historic prestige of the Pininfarina brand, which has arguably designed some of the most beautiful cars ever made, the Batista gives drivers unprecedented power and agility, most recently achieving a certified 0-60 time of 1.79 seconds. A time, if you are curious, that will undoubtedly turn your brain to mush instantaneously.

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The Batista achieves this insane acceleration thanks to a quad-motor system that produces 1,900 horsepower and 1,726 pound-feet of torque. On top of that, the hypercar still achieves a respectable 300 miles of range, made possible by an enormous 120kWh battery. All for the low, low price of $2.2 million.

Pininfarina is once again on the very cutting edge of the auto industry, blending beauty and the future of mobility in amazing harmony. While it remains to be seen how the market will treat the company’s first vehicle, it will certainly be remembered as a trailblazer in years to come.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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Tesla sends clear message to Waymo with latest Austin Robotaxi move

It is the first expansion Tesla has made in Austin since the one on August 26. The company still operates in the Bay Area of California as well, referring to that program specifically as a “ride-hailing service.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has sent a clear message to Waymo with its latest move to its Robotaxi program in Austin, Texas.

Tesla and Waymo are the two true leaders in autonomous ride-hailing to an extent. Tesla has what many believe is a lot of potential due to its prowess with the Supervised Full Self-Driving suite. It is also operating a driverless Robotaxi service in Austin with a “Safety Monitor” that sits in the passenger’s seat.

Tesla explains why Robotaxis now have safety monitors in the driver’s seat

The two companies have been competing heavily in the market since they both launched driverless ride-hailing services in Austin this year: Waymo’s in March and Tesla’s in June.

One of the main drivers in the competition between the two is service area size, or the geofence in which the cars will operate without a driver. In August, the two were tied with a service area of about 90 square miles (233.099 sq. km).

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Tesla then expanded to about 170 square miles (440.298 sq. km) on August 26, dwarfing Waymo’s service area and expanding to freeways. Tesla’s freeway operation of the Robotaxi suite requires the Safety Monitor to be in the driver’s seat for safety reasons.

On Tuesday evening, Tesla made another move that sent a clear message to Waymo, as it expanded once again, this time to 243 square miles (629.367 sq. km).

This is according to Robotracker:

It is the first expansion Tesla has made in Austin since the one on August 26. The company still operates in the Bay Area of California as well, referring to that program specifically as a “ride-hailing service.”

Yesterday, it expanded that service to the San Jose Mineta International Airport, something it has been working on for several months.

Waymo has its own set of distinct advantages over Tesla as well, as it operates in more cities and states than the EV maker. Waymo currently has its autonomous vehicle services in Phoenix, Arizona, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Tesla plans to have half of the U.S. population with access to the Robotaxi platform by the end of the year.

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Tesla exec reveals shock development with Cybercab

“If we have to have a steering wheel, it can have a steering wheel and pedals.”

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(Credit: Teslarati)

Tesla is planning to launch the Cybercab in the second quarter of next year, and it is designed to be fully autonomous, so much so that the company is planning to build it without a steering wheel or pedals.

However, a Tesla executive said today that the company could ditch that idea altogether in what would be a major shift from the plans the company, and especially its CEO Elon Musk, have announced for the Cybercab.

Earlier today, Robyn Denholm, the company’s Chair for the Board of Directors, revealed that Tesla would potentially switch up its plans for the Cybercab based on potential regulatory requirements.

Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East | X

Currently, even autonomous vehicles that operate for companies like Tesla and Waymo are required to have steering wheels and pedals. From a regulatory perspective, this could halt the plans Tesla has for Cybercab.

Denholm said in an interview with Bloomberg:

“If we have to have a steering wheel, it can have a steering wheel and pedals.”

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Interestingly, Musk and Tesla have not veered away from the idea that the vehicle will be without these operational must-haves.

Since the vehicle was revealed last October at the We, Robot event in Los Angeles, Tesla has maintained that the car would be built without a steering wheel or pedals, and would equip two seats, which is what is statistically most popular in ride-sharing, as the vast majority of rides have only one or two passengers.

Musk doubled down on the plans for Cybercab as recently as last week, when he said:

“That’s really a vehicle that’s optimized for full autonomy. It, in fact, does not have a steering wheel or pedals and is really an enduring optimization on minimizing cost per mile for fully considered cost per mile of operation. For our other vehicles, they still have a little bit of the horse carriage thing going on where, obviously, if you’ve got steering wheels and pedals and you’re designing a car that people might want to go very direct past acceleration and tight cornering, like high-performance cars, then you’re going to design a different car than one that is optimized for a comfortable ride and doesn’t expect to go past sort of 85 or 90 miles an hour.”

Cybercab is fully conceptualized as a vehicle that has zero need for pedals or a steering wheel because it is aimed toward being fully reliant on a Level 5 autonomous platform.

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Tesla is ramping its hiring for Cybercab vehicle manufacturing roles

Regulators could get in the way of this, however, and although the car could drive itself and be a great solution for ride-hailing, it might need to have these controls to hit the road in the future.

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SpaceX opens up free Starlink service for those impacted by Hurricane Melissa

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(Credit: Starlink | X)

SpaceX is opening up its internet service, Starlink, to those impacted by Hurricane Melissa, as it made landfall in Jamaica and the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to reach wind speeds of over 165 MPH over the next few days as it extends out into the Atlantic Ocean by Thursday and Friday.

Citizens in Jamaica and the Bahamas have been preparing for the storm for the past week, getting necessary goods together and preparing for the massive storm to arrive. It finally did yesterday, and the first images and video of the storm are showing that it could destroy many parts of both countries.

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Starlink is now being opened up for free until the end of November for those impacted by the storm in Jamaica and the Bahamas, SpaceX announced today:

It is a move similar to the one the company made last year as Hurricane Helene made its way through the United States, destroying homes and property across the East Coast. SpaceX offered free service for those impacted by the destruction caused by the storm.

The free Starlink service was available until the end of 2024.

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Elon Musk’s companies have also made similar moves to help out those who are impacted by natural disasters. Tesla has offered Free Supercharging in the past, most notably during the California wildfires.

Tesla and SpaceX’s LA fire relief efforts: Cybertrucks, free Starlink and more

One major advantage of Starlink is that it is available for use in situations like this one, where power might be required to operate things like a modem and router.

Internet access is a crucial part of survival in these situations, especially as it can be the last leg some stand on to get in touch with emergency services or loved ones.

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