Pininfarina revealed updated Battista, gave private preview of Pura Vision design concept at Monterey

Pininfarina Automobili looks to be following a similar scheme it used to successful effect last year with the Battista launch. In 2018, the car company held private VIP viewings of the Battista electric hypercar, gathered reservations, then revealed the final product at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. At the 2019 Pininfarina VIP events, the company brought a tweaked version of the Battista, shown above, but also showed off the new Pura Vision, an “inspirational view of the aesthetics of a future pure-electric Luxury Utility Vehicle from the Italian marque.” Pura is the name of the design language that Italian-based Pininfarina SpA, the 89-year-old design firm, applies to products created for one-year-old Germany-based car company with the similar name of Pininfarina Automobili.

Unfortunately, the Pura Vision’s reveal was only to private eyes, and the only image, shown below, the company shared was of part of the roof in front of the company’s design director, Luca Borgogno. Borgogno said the “Pura Vision… is absolutely an insight into our future; a luxury vehicle like no other and once again designed to deliver thrilling EV performance.”

The Pura Vision is likely a lightly dressed concept version of the SUV due to be launched in 2021, as well as a more general presentation of what we can expect from less hyper Pininfarina products. Based on the tightly cropped photo of Borgogno with the Pura Vision concept, we can can make a smooth stretch of glass from the windshield to a wraparound rear wing, the roof in between partitioned by a design element similar to the channel running up the center of the Battista’s roof. 

We could know more come the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, when the Pura Vision possibly scheduled for a public debut by the lake. If this is indeed the SUV to challenge the Lamborghini Urus, our last report said it could use a skateboard chassis purchased from Rivian, with Rivian’s middling 135-kWh battery pack, electric motors producing a combined 1,088 horsepower, and a range of around 375 miles on a charge. The price should take a steep climb down from the Battista’s cumulonimbus heights, suspected to come in between $220,000 and $445,000.

As for Pininfarina evolved version of the Battista, it’s not restyled just for aesthetics, but for functional reasons. Having put the slinky speeder through additional wind tunnel testing in Italy, the automaker says a re-sculpted front end and “final design refinements” have unlocked another 50 kilometers (31 miles) of range from its 120-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. On top of that, the company said it doubled the number of Battista reservation holders during its time in Monterey; only 50 coupes are slated for the North American market, 50 for Europe, and a final 50 for the Middle East and Asia.