Pininfarina begins building the 1,900-horsepower Battista
Announced in 2018 as the PF0, the Pininfarina Battista hypercar has finally entered series production. The 1,900-plus-horsepower EV is made largely by hand in Cambiano, Italy, and the first of 150 planned examples will be displayed in California during Monterey Car Week next month.
Building a Battista is a Herculean task. The factory is split into 14 zones, and production of a car takes a minimum of 10 weeks. Pininfarina notes that each car is assembled by a team of 10 specialists who invest more than 1,250 hours of work. That’s just the standard model; the limited-edition Anniversario model unveiled in 2020 requires an 18-week-long production process and takes about 100 additional hours to build.
First, the rolling chassis (which includes the powertrain, the carbon fiber monocoque, and an array of electrical components) goes through a comprehensive quality check. The body is added when everything checks out, and the car is then measured to ensure that every dimension, parameter, and gap is accurate. Next, the body is removed and sent to the paint shop while a separate team assembles the interior. Other parts (like the underbody panels) are then installed before more quality-related measurements are taken. When the car is complete, it gets blasted with water to trace any and all leaks, evaluated in a light tunnel, wrapped in protective film, and road-tested on different surfaces.
Clients are invited to participate in their Battista’s design process. They can work directly with Pininfarina’s designers to configure their car by mixing and matching different paint colors and selecting from a long list of upholstery and trim materials. The company notes that there are up to “13.9 quintillion” exterior combinations and 128 million possible interior configurations. Needless to say, the odds of seeing two units of the Battista that are exactly identical will be relatively low. Customers can also stop by the factory to see their car as it’s being built.
Like other hypercar manufacturers, Pininfarina has trained a team of so-called flying doctors whose job is to diagnose and repair cars regardless of where they’re located. Interestingly, buyers have three service plans to choose from, including one called Eterna that includes a full replacement body that’s painted at the time of production. This should make it easier to replace, say, the hood in 15 years.
Pininfarina will begin delivering the Battista in the summer of 2022. Pricing starts at $2.5 million.
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