Otherworldy: The Lamborghini Revuelto

The Lamborghini Revuelto is little over the top. OK, a lot.

Since many enthusiasts and collectors go the Lambo way because of all the sound and fury, the Sant’Agata creators made sure there would be no questions with this one. They started with their snorting 6.5-liter V12 (fully normally aspirated and needing no turbos) and then added three motors. The end result is—if your right foot calls up everything the car has to offer, it gives you over a thousand horsepower—1001 hp to be technical. The most Lamborghini has ever put on the road, they said.

Their choices are interesting, and heavily skewed toward the thunder and lightning you would expect. The V12 throws all the power to the rear wheels, and the electric motors are split duty with two handling the front wheels and one adding oomph to the rear. The electrics bring the power up past 1000 from 814 hp without them.

The Revuelto is a plug-in, and with most plug-ins, you kind of look for a day’s worth of electric-only use. Not so with the Revuelto. If you want to go default hybrid, you choose Città mode. But don’t think of Citta as a city, but more of a town. Or a town plaza. Or your very long driveway. It is electric quiet and is skewed for that by being somewhat conservative in the use of power. But it will move to internal combustion power pretty quickly. Quiet electric, they seem to think, isn’t yet the Lamborghini experience it should be.

Now you may think this means the recuperation of power is weak, but it is not. Because the fuel-fed V12 power goes all to the rear wheels, this car needs to be all-wheel drive almost all the time just to keep things remotely safe, and it only has two of those motors exclusively just to power the fronts. So, a lot of electric power needs to be available, in an instant and all the time. And even though it is recovering energy like crazy, the Revuelto doesn’t really sacrifice space and weight for a bank of batteries. Electric storage sits between the two racing-style seats.

What is it like inside? The word cockpit is definitely appropriate, though the aeronautics inspired handles like those of the Urus now have their functions chosen on the yoke. The steering wheel houses a whole lot of the controls, with rotors for the modes that you may be more used to seeing in that center area. Turn signals and launch control and such are also wheel-mounted. The interface is digital, with three screens including one for the passenger. If you are used to big Lamborghinis, this one may actually seem slightly more spacious, especially with the double bubble roof. Slightly. Space-wise, you have some behind the seats and below the front bonnet, but not for more than a couple of carry-on-size bags. Small ones.

The car starts up in quiet Citta (hybrid) mode. You can switch to the more dedicated fully-electric, but not for too long. 4WD, Strada for highways, Sports for mountain roads and such, Corsa for the track. All with a quick thumb swipe. And there is zero question about what you are driving once the 12 behind your head fires up or starts running. The hopefully familiar and always heart-starting sound from the exhaust starts to overpower the mechanical sounds as you press further down on the gas pedal. But now there is something different, there’s a bit of a whir or a buzz. It is like an electric motor—but on steroids that may well kill it. And it is truly wonderful as an addition to the song of the V12.

Lamborghinis can be overwhelming. They are visually striking, loud when you walk up to them, and rather scary when the big noisy engine behind your head starts to get busy and the front starts to get light as the sound gets louder. For most plug-in hybrids, the makers choose to add a bit of calmness and relative serenity to the mix. With the Revuelto, what the electric motors do is actually add more quickness off the line, and you just keep pulling all the way up the revs and the speedometer as they both rise alarmingly rapidly. It is like you scare the thing and it jumps, but then it just keeps accelerating. Through each of the eight gears.

And the sound at rest? The rumble at idle when people walk up? All barely shackled V12, but with a surprising amount of electric sizzle.

There are some cars where it is the price alone that guarantees exclusivity. To drive the Revuelto? You need a bit more than just that.

This article originally appeared in Robb Report Philippines’ Car Issue, April 2025.