Bugatti looking to make elongated electric luxury car

Mon, Mar 18 2019

Bugatti has been a one-trick pony for awhile now, but that could be changing in a few years. Car reports that the French supercar maker is working on an electric luxury car, due in 2023. The report claims Bugatti will use an elongated version of the platform Porsche is building the Taycan on. Plenty of changes would be made to make it worthy of the Bugatti name — adding copious amounts of carbon fiber and other lightweight exotic materials wouldn't be out of the question, since Bugatti doesn't have to worry about a price point like Porsche does. It also needs to differentiate itself considerably from others under the Volkswagen umbrella to be taken seriously.

Car posits that this luxury barge could bring back the Royale name from the early twentieth century. Solid-state battery tech is not ready for production cars yet, but it's speculated that we could see the tech used as replacement for lithium-ion in this car. With no definitive timeline for solid state battery deployment, we'll maintain a healthy level of skepticism for now.

Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann spoke of the potential luxury car to Bloomberg at the Geneva Motor Show, too. He claimed the battery-electric car would be more affordable than the brand's usual fare.

"There, I would see us doing a battery electric vehicle," Winkelmann said. "There, the balance between performance and comfort is much more important, and it's about daily usability. This is what I see."

We don't see Bugatti axing the Chiron and whatever will replace it sometime down the line, so this next car will mean the brand would finally have two concurrent model offerings. Winkelman said the company's priorities for its future cars are changing, with top speed being much lower on the list of priorities, as well.

"In Bugatti's future, maximum speed does not play the leading role any more," Winkelmann said. "From now on, we are going to put an emphasis on ultimate overall vehicle dynamics, lightweight and modern sustainable luxury."

We've no doubt Bugatti will be able to find homes for nearly anything it produces. Bugatti told Bloomberg that the average Bugatti customer has 42(!) cars parked in the garages of what we can assume are various homes all around the world. Why should those folks have to commute in a stuffy old Rolls-Royce when they could be in a Bugatti? We're sure plenty of rumors will come forward over the next few years surrounding this potential electric luxury car, so stay tuned for the latest from the exotic French automaker.

By Zac Palmer