The powertrain features a V12 engine and hybrid technology based on supercapacitors.

When the Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 made its debut at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Italian automaker told everyone listening that the car is well ahead of its time. It was the first V12-powered hybrid sports car using supercapacitor-based hybrid technology. At the end of the day, the world was graced with an electrified sports car that’s nothing like the EVs before it.

It had 785 horsepower tucked nicely beneath its wings and could vroom from 0 to 62 mph in a hair-raising 2.8 seconds, all that without the additional 34 horses provided by the electric motor. Like Lamborghini said, the Sian FKP 37 is miles ahead of its peers.

Three years after its launch, Sian continues to mesmerize and impress on many levels, thanks to its futuristic design and - most of all, the Promethean and powerful hybrid technology. Its cutting-edge powertrain that combines the vociferous V12 mill with a 48-volt electric motor propels the vehicle to a top speed north of 217 mph.

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Although production began the following year, the Italian luxury automaker unveiled the Sian FKP 37 mid-engine hybrid sports car on September 3, 2019. Sian was then the automaker's first-ever hybrid production vehicle. Lamborghini took the name "Sian" from the Bolognese word for lightning flash, a fitting nomenclature for an electrified sports car that can accelerate to 60 mph in under 3 seconds.

Technically, Lamborghini chose the name to commemorate its first supercapacitor-powered hybrid. The marque will go down in history as an apex-hunting trailblazer whose only concern is to set trends while others struggle to emulate. For example, while everyone else jostled to migrate from gas to electric propulsion, Lamborghini managed to leap miles ahead of its peers by introducing an all-electric self-healing hypercar with a body made of supercapacitors.

With supercapacitors, Lamborghini took the saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," rather seriously. The company has, on several occasions, hinted at its preference to stay gas-powered. If it has no choice, it's just that Lamborghini likes to make lemonades, which means taking an unconventional approach to electrification, ergo, its use of supercapacitors.

The rat race is towards battery-electric, but Lambo is no rat, choosing instead to move in a different direction where it’s using supercapacitors to store electrical energy delivered to a small electric motor.

Here's the thing. Even the most advanced and powerful batteries are no match for supercapacitors, as the latter can both charge and discharge energy much faster as well as possess a much slower degeneration, withstanding a lot more charge and discharge cycles to surpass the efficiency of the most advanced batteries.

This is why Lambos like the Millenio and Sian doesn't need to be plugged in to top up the supercapacitors, since a full charge is achieved through regenerative braking each time the brake pedal is pressed, ultimately improving energy consumption by recovering energy that would otherwise be wasted by conventional brakes.

“Why didn’t we think of that,” says other automakers. They just have to think harder since the duo of Lamborghini and MIT has patented the ingenious supercapacitor technology. Sian is special in that it pioneered the marque’s novel supercapacitor technology that will go on to be integral in subsequent hybrid Lambos.

We've covered the story behind Lamborghini’s supercapacitor technology, how it is based on the Metal-Organics Frameworks principle, (which details the special materials used in battery construction), and how researchers and scientists in the department of chemistry at MIT were able to synthesize a new material for the patented technology. With supercapacitors integral to the Lamborghini Sian’s powertrain, the car turned out too smart and powerful for its peers.

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The otherworldly Lamborghini Terzo Millenio­ – when it finally arrives – will generate torque directly at the wheels. It’s just another instance of Lamborghini making lemonade when handed the lemon of electric propulsion. Lamborghini sees the use of cables to power electrical components in EVs as an opportunity to generate torque directly at the wheels. Whew!

According to the automaker, “The challenge consists of creating a technology that allows the power density positioned inside the wheels to be increased to the level required by an all-wheel-drive super sports car, while simultaneously keeping unsprung mass under control.”

While Terzo Millenio is still on its way to the garages of one-percenters who already snapped up all 63 units planned for production, the Lamborghini Sian achieved multiple industry firsts, including as the first low-voltage hybrid car with an electric motor that connects directly to the wheels, resulting in quick acceleration and high-level responsiveness.

As mentioned before, Sian utilizes a 48-volt electric motor that can equally be utilized for low-speed maneuvers like backing up or parking. Sian is also Lamborghini’s first-ever electrified production Lambo, but that’s actually basic. On release, it was and still is the most powerful production Lamborghini.

As you must have figured out by now, Sian is also the first Lambo utilizing supercapacitors in lieu of lithium-ion battery, a powerplant three times as powerful as lithium-ion batteries of the same weight. The automaker says Sian’s is the lowest weight-to-power ratio in any V12 Lamborghini ever.

Speaking of V12, Lamborghini worked hard and smart to ensure the experience of driving an electrified Lambo is on par with the level of sophistication provided by the “indomitable” V12-powered models. Thus, the Sián Roadster’s 6.5-liter V12 mill incorporates titanium intake valves and can make 785 horses at 8,500 rpm and a combined 819 horsepower, allowing it to reach a 217 mph top speed and emerge as the most powerful Lamborghini engine ever made.

Philip Uwaoma, this bearded black male from Nigeria, is fast approaching two million words in articles published on various websites, including toylist.com, rehabaid.com, and autoquarterly.com. After not getting credit for his work on Auto Quarterly, Philip is now convinced that ghostwriting sucks. He has no dog, no wife- yet- and he loves Rolls Royce a little too much.