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Lamborghini Huracan Evo gets Amazon Alexa tech at CES 2020

In-car technology is a must, Lamborghini development boss Maurizio Reggiani told Autoblog as he unveiled the Huracan Evo's touchscreen-based infotainment system in 2019. Amazon Alexa integration announced at CES 2020 is the next part of the march towards supercars that are as smart and connected as they are quick. By programming the voice assistant directly into the native infotainment system, rather than adding it as a third-party app, Lamborghini claims it achieved seamless integration that lets drivers control an extensive list of functions in the car, and in their home. If your butt is cold, you can ask Alexa to turn on the heated seats. You can also make calls, turn the map lights on or off, get directions, check the weather at your destination, and set the A/C, among other things. And, because Alexa speaks to connected devices, you can raise the temperature in your living room while doing hot laps at Watkins Glen, or turn on the porch lights as you pass a Porsche. The catch is that Alexa goes on strike if the Huracan isn't connected to the internet. Lamborghini and Amazon plan to deepen their cooperation in the coming years, though they didn't reveal precisely what they're hoping to achieve. They could teach Alexa new functions, but don't expect the Italian brand to release a car with an entirely button-free cabin in the near future. The driver still has to manually switch between the driving modes, for example, and the ignition button remains under a fighter jet-like red flap positioned on the slanted center console. Amazon Alexa will be available across the entire Huracan Evo range — which will grow to include a rear-wheel drive model developed to replace the 580-2 — by the end of 2020. Lamborghini told Autoblog it hasn't decided whether the feature will be standard or optional yet. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder walkthrough with COO Alessandro Farmeschi

Next-gen Lamborghini Aventador to get batteries and active aero?

Sportscar makers at the pointy end of class flout what appear to be inevitable business decisions the same way their offerings flout what appear to be inevitable physical limitations. Questions we've asked for years include: How long until Ferrari builds an SUV? (Next year.) How long until Chevrolet reveals a mid-engined Corvette? ( Soon?) And how long until Lamborghini must perform hybridised open heart surgery on its nonpareil V12? According to Motor Authority, as part of an interview with Lamborghini R&D honcho Maurizio Reggiani at the Detroit Auto Show, the answer to that last question is likely with the next generation. Reggiani told MA that the next-gen Aventador will definitely come with a V12. After that, the man who makes the bulls said "we must decide what will be the future of the super sportscar in terms of electric contribution," the principle issue of that contribution not being performance, but weight and power delivery. The 4,085-pound Aventador makes scales weep, explaining why Reggiani is so grave about weight implications that even a dual-clutch transmission - a seeming shoo-in for the next-gen car - won't get a pass until it justifies its extra heft over the present, hoary, single-clutch gearbox. Carbon fiber already forms the Aventador's tub, so engineers in Sant' Agata can't evaporate hundreds of pounds with that conversion. Lamborghini's been working on the new car's platform a for more than a year, no doubt with batteries in mind, yet stuffing a load of Triple As into the chassis could turn a battleship into a dreadnought. That formula works for Bugatti, but won't serve Lamborghini nor its clientele. Reggiani isn't opposed to some sort of electric assistance when the next-gen car bows in 2020 or 2021, and at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year said he sees plug-in hybrid tech as the next step, but we won't be surprised if the V12 song remains the naturally-aspirated same at launch. Still, the question of electrification - and turbocharging - remains one of "When?" There's so much writing on the wall that the writing is the wall: two years ago, Reggiani admitted that turbos will get bolted on "sooner or later," as did Lamborghini's commercial officer Federico Foschini last year, the Urus will dial up a hybrid powertrain soon, reports declare the next-gen Huracan will go hybrid in 2022, and Euro 6 emissions aren't getting less stringent. No matter how the coming flagship makes its power, expect more of everything.

Salvage team boards burnt ship Felicity Ace off Azores, towing begins

LISBON — More than a week after a ship packed with around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis, Lamborghinis and Bentleys, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a salvage team managed to board the vessel on Friday and started to tow it to a safe location off the Portuguese Azores archipelago. In a statement, ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) said the Felicity Ace remained stable, and the smoke that for days billowed from the vessel, adrift around 170 km southwest of the Azores, had stopped. The 22 crew members of the Panama-flagged Felicity Ace, which was carrying around 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys from Germany to the United States, were evacuated last Wednesday, the day the fire broke out. Some of the vehicles are electric and their lithium-ion batteries have made the fire very difficult to extinguish, port officials have said. Previous attempts to board the ship to assess its condition and start preparing it for towing had failed due to the fire and rough seas. On Friday, the team was able to board by helicopter and the salvage boat Bear started towing the vessel to a "safe area off Azores," the ship manager said. It was not clear where exactly the vessel was being towed to. It was being escorted by two tug boats and another salvage craft equipped with firefighting gear, MOL said. Related video: Image Credit: Portuguese Navy (Marinha Portuguesa) via Reuters Green Weird Car News Audi Bentley Lamborghini Porsche Electric fire car fire shipping cargo ship