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The Lamborghini Terzo Millennio is a brutally fantastic EV supercar concept

Lamborghini isn't known for bowing to convention. Ever since Ferruccio told Enzo Ferrari where he could stick his temperamental cars, and decided to build his own, it's been going its own way. This car, the Terzo Millennio ("third millenium"), built in collaboration with MIT, is very much a Lamborghini approach to the EV performance car. To begin with, it is obviously nothing else but a Lamborghini. Wild concept car touches aside, it's as wedgy and mean as anything to come out of Sant'Agata (and definitely anything to come out of Cambridge, MA!). There's some advanced tech here, too, as you might imagine with MIT's involvement. The most notable is the supercapacitor energy storage technology. Supercapacitors aren't ready for primetime yet, being very expensive and not quite as energy dense, although currently they're used in a few niche automotive applications. But MIT and Lamborghini want to produce one that'll work more like a main battery, but with greater ability to recharge and discharge quickly. That's ideal for brutal, explosive acceleration. If Lamborghini and MIT can make a breakthrough here, it'd let the decidedly conventional Lamborghinis of today (naturally aspirated, non-electrified) take a leap into the future on Lamborghini's own terms. The company is also exploring carbon composite batteries utilizing nanotechnology, which the company claims would reduce weight and increase the discharge capacity of the batteries. So, it seems, the Terzo Millennio might combine the two power storage technologies into the same drivetrain. Of course, like most modern Lamborghinis there's all-wheel drive, although it's in-wheel electric motor-based rather than the conventional mechanical type. It'd be easy enough to leave off the front motors for a Performante variant, perhaps. Or maybe in-wheel electric motors become the norm in the future. It's too early to tell; for now, this concept is AWD. The body is carbon fiber, and this concept previews some technology that can detect degradation in the carbon fiber early and potentially repair it with something called "nano-channels" utilizing a form of the technology that allows carbon composite materials to store energy. This technology deserves more explanation than we have room for here, and we'll get a deep dive on it as soon as we can. Lastly, Lamborghini wants a vehicle like the Terzo Millennio to sound like a Lamborghini. That won't be easy, since there's no V12 or V10 to be found.

BMW Z8, Lambo LM002 sell for $192,500 apiece in Detroit [w/poll]

Think a car are a bad investment? That all depends on what kind of car you're talking about. Because while most cars depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the lot, others can do even better than hold their value. The cars that appreciate tend to be pretty high-end exotics, but they don't have to be multi-million-dollar classics to command a premium at auction. Just look at the results from RM Sotheby's Motor City sale in Detroit this past weekend. The auction house moved a solid $7.4 million worth of metal, which is pretty impressive when you consider that – unlike events at Lake Como or Pebble Beach – not one of the lots dipped into seven figures. 1930s-era American classics performed the strongest, with Duesenbergs, Packards, Auburns and the like all fetching hundreds of thousands. But what intrigued us most were the European exotics that rounded the top ten results. Amidst the Depression-era American steel were a BMW Z8 from 2001 and a 1988 Lamborghini LM002, each of which sold for an equal $192,500. Hardly the highest figures paid for European exotics this year, but considering how much they were worth just a few years ago, they've proven solid investments. BMW only made 5,703 examples of the Henrik Fisker-designed retro Z8, of which only 2,543 were brought to the United States, where they originally sold for $128,000. The most anyone had ever paid for one at auction, according to Sports Car Market, was $184,082, just this past March at Silverstone. That makes the price achieved this weekend a new record for one of the slinkiest vehicles the Bavarian automaker has ever made, representing an impressive 50-percent increase in value over the course of fourteen years. This particular example – chassis WBAEJ13481AH60437 for those keeping track – is decked out in silver over black, with less than 15,500 miles on the odometer. This Rambo Lambo was produced early in the 301-unit production run, with the sought-after carbureted engine and 32,000 miles on the clock. It didn't set any records at the same price, other examples of the LM002 having traded over the past few years for over $200k. But considering that Sant'Agata originally charged around $120-130k for the SUV when it was new, its selling price still represents about 50-percent appreciation (leaving inflation aside).

The Huracan Performante will be the fastest Lamborghini yet

We expected the track-special Huracan you see above to be called Superleggera, as it's the lighter and more hard-core version of the little Lambo, but reports now confirm the name will be Performante. That's not the cool part. Thanks to a bunch of changes, including a new active aero system called ALA, this has the potential to be the fastest Lamborghini yet. That means faster than the Aventador SV, and quite possibly faster than the Porsche 918 Spyder. That measure of speed and world domination relates to the car's Nurburgring time, which hasn't been announced yet. We'll see the camouflage-free Performante first at the Geneva show in March, where it's likely the 'Ring time will be announced. What we know about it so far is very interesting, though. Motor Trend has driven a Performante prototype and provides a lot of details. Perhaps the coolest part, and the biggest facilitator for the extra speed, is the new active aero system called Aerodynamica Lamborghini Attiva. From MT's description, it sounds like it can "vector" airflow, opening and closing a flap on either side of the rear wing depending on which direction the car is turning. It also does away with heavy hydraulic rams in favor of electric motors to accomplish the active part. The car also gets a more powerful 5.2-liter V10 (around 30 more horsepower for a total of about 630), a weight reduction of about 90 pounds, upgrades suspension, stickier tires, and a retune of all electronic systems like those governing the transmission, ABS, traction control, and stability control. We'll bring you the full details on this monster Lamborghini track machine from Geneva in March. In the meantime, prepare yourself for a little Lambo that's quicker than its big brother – and pretty much every other production car out there. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Lamborghini Huracan Superleggera Spy Shots View 12 Photos News Source: Motor Trend Lamborghini Technology Coupe Performance Supercars confirmed lamborghini huracan superleggera