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Lamborghini LB48H hypercar due next year: You might even say it glows

We know there's a hybrid Lamborghini Aventador successor coming sometime between 2020 and 2022. Due to deleted Instagram posts and a fissures in the rumor-verse, we expect a hypercar codenamed LB48H to preview the next electrified V12 Lamborghini. Autocar reports the next model in the Italian carmaker's series of low-volume specials will cost about $2.6 million, making it just another walk in the hypercar park as for price. The weird part is where Road & Track, referencing "a source familiar with Lamborghini's plans," says the LB48H will glow in the dark. The source didn't elaborate, so not even RT knows what that means. The Lamborghini Terzo Millennio concept from 2017 revealed a smattering of Tron-like light sculpture in its launch video. The wheels and engine bay glow, illuminated Italian flag graphics mark the front fenders, LED piping runs down the centerline. But lights don't come under the traditional definition of "glow in the dark." If the LB48H really does sport some kind of overall incandescence, well, we're about to enter a new chapter in hypercars. Other questions remain about how the LB48H will preview the future of Sant' Agata. The company's head of R&D has bemoaned the weight of batteries, admitting that the best-case scenario for the coming series-production hybrid V12 flagship means an additional 330 to 440 pounds. It's thought that the hypercar will use supercapacitors instead of batteries, providing a lightweight solution that would also showcase future technical potential. The all-electric Terzo Millennio employed nascent supercapacitor tech Lamborghini has been developing with MIT. That solution's upside is lighter size and weight compared to batteries, longer service life, a supercapacitor's fast charge and discharge ability, and the fact that it can discharge and recover energy at the same time. The downside is that supercapacitors have low energy density compared to lithium-ion batteries, so it's possible the LB48H could use a battery and a supercapacitor to work a 49-horsepower motor aiding an 789-hp V12. The production V12 is expected to get a more mundane solution. Lamborghini's looking ahead to cities mandating a minimum all-electric range up to 31 miles. One idea in play is a split hybrid layout, with an electric motor in charge of the front axle. That eliminates a prop shaft, and sharpens front axle response and torque vectoring.

Lamborghini NA V12 swan song a track-only 830-hp Aventador SVR?

According to a poster on a McLaren Life forum and picked up by The Supercar Blog, Lamborghini is preparing a small-batch, track-only model to begin deliveries around 2021. At the end of last month, user Champagne612 wrote that he (or she) was "Going to spec next week and test drive the SVR V12 track version of AV." In the words of Champagne612, this Aventador SVR is the last hurrah for Lamborghini's naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12, a flourish before hybridization becomes necessary on the brand's iconic powerplant. Supposedly, only 40 SVRs will be made, each one producing 830 atmospheric horsepower. That would give the SVR 60 more horses than the road-legal SVJ. Lamborghini's only made two other SVR models. In 1968, there was the one-of-one Miura Jota SVR, a customer-request Lamborghini brewed with a mix of outsourced parts. More relevant to this latest car, in 1996 Lamborghini built 31 examples of the Diablo SV-R — based on the Diablo SV — to form a one-make race series. It's not clear if the coming SVR will be just a customer track-day car, a la the new Porsche 911 GT2 RS-based 935, or if Lamborghini has larger plans, a la the Ferrari FXX-K program. The Sant' Agata brand has leaned even more into the customer racing vibe of late, with a Urus one-make series planned, and the customer-request, road-legal Aventador-based SC18 Alston unveiled last year (pictured). Based on that, there's chatter that an Aventador SVR could be a feint at the so-called hypercar class opening next year in the World Endurance Championship. The connection seems more than tenuous, but it's not impossible. Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali said at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that the carmaker was perusing the hypercar regulations taking effect in 2020 until about 2025, and told Autocar that the SC18 Alston "shows that we have internal capabilities for such a [Le Mans] project." Those rules require a minimum weight of 1,100 kilograms, maximum combined output of 750 hp — an optional hybrid system can contribute no more than 270 hp — and a minimum of 20 production versions built over two years. Save for the fact that committed entries from Aston Martin and Toyota are much more slippery than any Lamborghini, the rules on paper put an Aventador-based model firmly in the mix, and unresolved regulations limiting downforce and mandating a minimum drag figure could inch an Italian competitor closer to the mark.

Lamborghini has been developing an IPO strategy 'for a long time'

Porsche AG isn’t the only Volkswagen AG brand that has been quietly preparing for a potential initial public offering. Italian luxury-car maker Lamborghini has been developing a strategy how to present itself to stock-market investors since well before Volkswagen asked each of its brands to come up with virtual equity stories, according to the unitÂ’s Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann. “WeÂ’ve been working on this with other agencies in order to create clarity,” Winkelmann said. “As a brand, weÂ’ve done so for a long time, to show what worth, what value we have. Up until a little while ago, it wasnÂ’t so well known.” Porsche became EuropeÂ’s most valuable automaker last month, when its market capitalization overtook that of VW a week after its IPO in Frankfurt. The debut of the 911 maker was a bold move into public markets, which have been largely shut for most of the year. VW CEO Oliver Blume has said he sees the listing as a blueprint to unlock more value from the groupÂ’s brands that also include Audi and Bentley. “An IPO drill is exactly what you do to show the public how solid you are and what is in progress for the future,” Winkelmann said. “We have a clear story and strategy for that.” Audi, which oversees VWÂ’s premium brands, said last month there are no concrete plans for an IPO of Lamborghini. A previous push to potentially spin off the carmaker and motorcycle brand Ducati ran into opposition from labor leaders. Still, LamborghiniÂ’s recent profit gains -- including a 31.9% operating margin in the first half of this year -- make a solid case for a stock-market listing, said Michael Dean, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “An IPO is something that could potentially happen in the next 18 months, depending on market conditions,” Dean said. “A ˆ15 billion valuation is entirely justifiable and could be even higher, given the margin metrics.” LamborghiniÂ’s deliveries rose 8% to 7,430 vehicles in the first nine months of the year. Operating profit climbed 69% to ˆ570 million ($567 million). Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lamborghini teases Huracan Sterrato tackling terrain