Pagani Utopia: Horacio Pagani says customers do not want a hybrid V12

Pagani’s newest creation, the Utopia, immediately caught attention for its powertrain choices: a twin-turbo V12 paired with a manual gearbox. There is no electrification in sight, aside from the 12 V battery.

That approach stood out even more in 2022, when the car was unveiled into a market that already included electric hypercars such as the Rimac Nevera and the Lotus Evija. One step down the ladder, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren were either launching or announcing a new wave of hybrid supercars.

Horacio Pagani’s deliberately counter-trend decision was recently explained during Monterey Car Week - where he presented the Utopia Roadster - in comments to Drive. And, he says, the “blame” lies with… his customers.

“In reality nobody is interested in a hybrid car”.

Horacio Pagani, founder and CEO of Pagani, to Drive

Pagani said he even has hybrids in his own collection, including the Porsche 918 Spyder. Even so, he added that “when it’s time to take the Porsche out for a drive, I take my 911R or the Carrera GT. Our customers have the same line of thinking”.

He went on to say: “I believe that if we ask people, most will say a hybrid is something extraordinary, because it has all the problems of an electric car and all the problems of a combustion car, on top of having higher costs (development and maintenance)”.

Electric and hybrid options were considered

Even with this stance, Horacio Pagani stressed it does not mean he has no interest in a high-performance electrified future, or even a fully electric one.

He told Drive they looked at producing a hybrid V8, but that would add 400–500 kg to the Utopia’s lightweight formula (1,280 kg dry, which is 60 kg less than the Huayra). However, “our customers didn’t want anything to do with that”, he said.

Pagani also referred to an electric hypercar project that began in 2017. Despite the enthusiasm around it - from both his team and Pagani himself - and despite working with partners including Mercedes-AMG, Lucid and others, customer demand again failed to materialise.

Horacio Pagani’s remarks appear to align with the market’s hard reality. Neither the Rimac Nevera nor the Lotus Evija - two electric hypercars with staggering performance - have so far found enough buyers to cover their limited production runs of 150 units and 130 units, respectively.

By contrast, the new Bugatti Tourbillon, the hybrid successor to the Chiron, has already sold out all 250 units, even though production is only due to start in 2026. In that case, the allure of a huge naturally aspirated V16 and the brand’s mystique seem to outweigh the fact it features an electrified front axle.

Is there a future for pure combustion?

Pagani’s founder says that, given the company’s small size, it has to build what customers want, because it does not have a major car group behind it as a safety net. Still, if market demand shifts, he says they have a great deal of in-house technology that would allow them to change direction quickly.

According to Pagani, the Utopia’s AMG-sourced twin-turbo V12 - and future evolutions of it - is type-approved through to 2031. What comes after that is unknown, but Horacio Pagani sums it up like this: “We are doing everything we can to keep the V12”.

Source: Drive