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Rough seas delay salvage operation for burning ship carrying luxury cars

LISBON — Rough waters forced authorities on Wednesday to postpone a salvage operation for a ship packed with luxury cars that have been on fire for a week in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a port official said. With teams unable to board the Felicity Ace, heavy tug boats sprayed water to cool the vessel, which is carrying around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis, Lamborghinis and Bentleys. Lamborghini of America CEO Andrea Baldi told Automotive News that there were dozens of pre-sold Lamborghinis aboard, mostly the Urus SUV. But also some Huracans and Aventadors, the latter of which have ceased production. The ship's 22 crew members were evacuated last Wednesday, the day the fire began. Some of the vehicles are electric, and their lithium-ion batteries have made the fire very difficult to extinguish, port officials have said. Joao Mendes Cabecas, the captain of the nearest port on the Azorean island of Faial, said the blaze had lost its intensity — probably because there was little left to burn. Salvage teams hoped to board the ship, which is is adrift around 170 km southwest of the Azores near Portugal, to assess its condition and start preparing it for towing, the Portuguese navy said in a statement on Tuesday. The navy took photos of the ship that showed a gaping hole at least four decks high, with burn marks running the length of the ship. It is unclear if the vessel will be towed to the Bahamas or Europe. Cabecas told Reuters bad weather prevented the team from boarding the ship. Waves as high as 2.5 meters battered the coast of Faial on Wednesday, Portugal's weather agency IPMA said. The salvage team was expected to be flown to the ship on a helicopter belonging to the Portuguese air force, which will decide on Thursday if the operation can proceed, Cabecas said. Ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) said in a statement on Tuesday the vessel was still on fire but stable, and that no oil leak had been reported so far. It did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the cause of the fire. Insurance experts said the incident could result in losses of $155 million.   Weird Car News Audi Bentley Lamborghini Porsche

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato (Snowy) Road Test: Hitting the slopes in Vermont

"Yellow f***ing Lamborghini!" I've been spotted. I'm trying to change my boots as inconspicuously as I possibly can in the parking lot next to the ski lift, but when you're perched on the door sill of a Huracan Sterrato, a shiny yellow beacon in a field of filthy gray SUVs, there's no hiding. A young man on skis is losing his mind a short distance away, issuing the profanity-laced call to his friends to come to take a look at the bright wedge in the icy lot, and I know it's going to be a few extra minutes before I make it to the lift. You can't fault their excitement. Southern Vermont is unlikely Lamborghini territory at the best of times. In mid-January? Forget about it. You might see a brave Carrera 4, but that's about as exotic as it gets this time of year in the Green Mountains. In January, the hope is always that those mountains will be white. The roads, though, were in quite a state: muddy and icy and sloppy, and the perfect testing ground for this oddball supercar. Lamborghini showed its intent with the 2019 Sterrato concept, but it wasn't until mid-2022 that the company confirmed they'd actually build the thing. On paper, that thing doesn't seem so special. A paltry 44 mm of lift does not a rally car make, nor 30 and 34 mm of additional track at the front and rear, respectively, nor the bolted-on fender flares and questionably functional skid plates. But, as Brett Berk learned when he drove it through the desert, minor updates on paper can create fantastic cars. I planned for a test of a different sort, to pilot this delightful beacon across the winding and filthy roads of Upstate New York and Southern Vermont toward one of my favorite mountains. The car you see here, which Lamborghini provided for a long weekend, came complete with numerous options, the most significant (and worthwhile) being the $9,800 for the Giallo Inti paint. Total price? That would be $348,649 including the $3,695 destination charge and $2,100 gas guzzler tax – a lot of money for a winter beater. One of those options, though, threatened to stymie the trip before I even got out of my driveway. The accessory roof basket and the spare wheel Lamborghini attached to it using the included “wheel retainer belt” gives the Sterrato a certain stance and character. However, it created some challenges. I had initially planned on using my SeaSucker mount to simply stick my board on the roof and head for the hills. There was no room.

Lamborghini Sian's supercapacitor hybrid system explained by company's CTO

"We are a game-changer and a provocateur," Lamborghini's CTO, Maurizio Reggiani told Engadget. The automaker has a long history of making waves with traffic-stopping designs and more recently, innovative tech. At last week's Frankfurt Motor Show, the Italian company unveiled its Sian hybrid supercar. But it ditched the traditional battery pack in favor of a supercapacitor to power an electric motor, which is exactly what you would expect from the Italian company. Typically a hybrid uses a lithium-ion battery pack to store energy. Then when needed, it transfers an electrical current to a motor (or motors) to either help the gas-powered engine or take over propulsion entirely. It's a recipe that has successfully improved gas mileage and sold over six million examples of the Toyota Prius, not to mention countless other hybrids. "It's too easy to follow," Reggiani said. "If you want to move for the first time in electrification you must guarantee that the implementation will not destroy the DNA of a car and brand." With that in mind, the automaker went with a supercapacitor instead of a battery. According to Reggiani, the supercapacitor offers up three times the power of a battery pack from the same weight and packaging. Plus, it stores and discharges energy much quicker. The spent power can be fully regenerated very quickly during normal braking. Reggiani explained that this could be particularly useful while cornering. Going into a corner, the driver applies the brakes and replenishes any spent energy. Then, as the driver accelerates out of the corner, all the available power is there for acceleration. Then as the driver brakes for the next curve, the process starts all over again. Plus, the supercapacitor doesn't have to cool down like traditional battery, it's just ready to go at all times -- which is exactly what Lamborghini owners want. The output of the 48-volt motor installed into the gearbox is 34 horsepower which brings the total power output of the V12 Sian to 819 horsepower. While 34 horsepower doesn't seem like much, it means the vehicle can do zero to 62 miles per hour in under 2.8 seconds. That's Tesla Model S Performance and Porsche Taycan levels of fast. But there are other benefits. The electric motor reduces the torque hits of the gears shifting. You know those momentary losses -- then explosions of power -- you feel in the car as it speeds up, that's the vehicle going through its gears.