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Bugatti Veyron hybrid successor rumors surface anew

If you had told us when the Bugatti Veyron debuted nine years ago that its successor would be a hybrid, we would have responded that you were out to lunch. In fact, we didn't quite believe it two years ago when the rumor first surfaced. But that was all before Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari proved that hybrids could not only be quick, but entertaining drives, as well. And when we say "quick," we mean Nürburgring-conqueringly, 0-60 in under three seconds quick. Today, the idea of a hybrid hypercar doesn't seem far-fetched at all. And so we bring you new reports that the next Veyron - whether it carries the same name or not - will pack an electric assist.
This according to Reuters, which notes that Bugatti's old-is-new-again CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer is keen on hybrid propulsion as evidence that the Alsatian marque is likely to pursue such a powertrain for the Veyron's replacement. The system wouldn't help curb the Veyron's portly weight, of course, but it would likely help cut down its prodigious fuel consumption. The current car, by the way, would run dry after 12 minutes at its 250+ mph top speed (by which point the special Michelin tires would have melted anyway). More importantly - and more likely - the hybrid assist will make the new car even punchier at low revs.
Of course, even assuming Reuters is correct, there's no telling to what internal-combustion engine the electric motor in the next Veyron will be paired with. However, considering the massive sums of cash Volkswagen spent on developing the unique 6.0-liter quad-turbo W-16, we'd bet it'll use some form of the same - just with an extra jolt of electric power thrown in for good measure.

EU Parliament allows low-volume automakers to sell ICE cars after 2035

Bloomberg recently ran a piece about how new cars are "just for the rich" thanks to constraints — real and artificial — that have boosted prices and profits. It's possible internal combustion engines will end up behind the same paywall. The European Parliament has been laying out the regulations that will guide the transport industry to and beyond 2035, when the EU will forbid sales of new ICE-powered passenger cars and vans. The latest step in the process was to approve a carveout for automakers that register fewer than 1,000 cars per year. Basically, every independent hypercar maker on The Continent plus Bugatti would be allowed to sell 1,000 units annually. The vote was probably closer than some expected, with 340 votes in favor, 279 against, and 21 abstentions, meaning just 40 parliamentarians made the provision possible. We're sure we haven't heard the end of it, either. Italy and its super sports car makers have publicly stated their desires for an exception to the ban. Never mind that outfits like Pagani, Bugatti, and Koenigsegg have barely made 1,000 cars apiece throughout their lifespans, if the rules would allow 1,000 new Jeskos on the road every year, why not allow 1,000 ICE Lamborghinis out of Sant'Agata's total annual production?   As Autocar noted, the carveout doesn't apply to the UK, the island nation also banning new ICE sales in 2035. Autocar reports that government officials there are considering such a measure. It would be vastly more important in the UK where cottage industry carmaking — Ariel, BAC, Ginetta, Morgan, and so on — is a national point of pride.  For the rest of the enthusiast public, carbon-neutral synthetic fuels or Toyota's hydrogen-fueled ICE efforts might be the best currently known bets to save the ICE soundtrack. 2035 is around the corner from a development standpoint but ages away from a tech standpoint, so who knows what kind of world we'll be looking at on the other side. It's still going to sound like hypercars, though. Government/Legal Bugatti Koenigsegg Pagani

Bugatti Chiron Noire only slightly less exclusive than 'La Voiture Noire'

Bugatti has only constructed one La Voiture Noire, the homage to the Jean Bugatti's now-lost 57 SC Atlantic, and as far as we know, Bugatti will only build one. The Molsheim manfuacturer has come up with a way to spread the sheen of The Black Car to a few more Bugatti owners with two versions of a single special edition. The Chiron Noire Elegance and Chiron Noire Sportive are two ways to dress the hypercar up in black, the difference being that one presents a gleaming black objet to admire, the other opens two doors to a singularity and perhaps a portal to the Planet of the Apes. The Elegance is the showy black one, all of its bodywork done in exposed carbon fiber. Two new mesh designs cover the front radiator grilles, highlighted by a Bugatti badge worked up in solid silver and black enamel. Matte polished aluminum caps the C-line swooping around the doors, tying in with the polished aluminum on the side mirrors and engine cover. Lower down, the word "Noire" on the rear fenders, scripted in black, of course, gives away the coupe's exclusive identity, as do the black brake calipers. Inside the black leather interior, silk-matte aluminum highlights the C-line between the seats, and Noire badging decorates the center console, armrest, and door sills. The Chiron Noire Sportive is the shadowy black one, all of its bodywork and normally metallic jewelry slathered in matte black, including the C-line and tailpipes. Bugatti appears to have dipped the interior in a tub of black, so not only is the leather the color of night, so too are all the usually aluminum parts; the C-line, the steering wheel, the center console, switchgear, buttons and knobs on the dashboard and the door handles, all of them want to swallow all the light. Bugatti will sell only 20 of this Chrion Noire special edition, builds to begin in the second quarter of next year. Either package can be ordered for the base Chrion for three million euros ($3.3M U.S.), or added to the more expensive Chiron Sport for an additional 100,000 euros ($110,865 U.S.).