Further research will explore additional optimisation of the properties of the material, and its production on an increasingly larger scale. More broadly, this result is part of the shift towards electric vehicle technology Lamborghini undertook in 2017 with the presentation of the Terzo Millennio, and more recently with the Sián, unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Stefano Domenicali, chairman and chief executive officer of Automobili Lamborghini, commented: “The joint research with MIT fully embodies our values and our vocation for anticipating the future: a future in which hybridisation is increasingly desirable and inevitably necessary.”
Lamborghini Terzo Millennio
The new patented material was synthesised by Professor Mircea Dincă’s team in the MIT’s Chemistry Department with the support of Lamborghini’s Concept Development Department and is based on the “Metal-Organic Frameworks” (MOF) concept.
Lamborghini Sián
The molecular structure of these materials makes them ideal candidates for producing electrodes for future high-performance supercapacitors, because it maximises the specific surface area, i.e. the amount of surface area exposed to electric charge in relation to the mass and volume of the sample. More specifically, the stated goal of the research is to improve the energy density: the patent promises to increase this density by up to 100% compared to current technology.
A second, three-year collaboration with Professor John Anastasios Hart’s team in MIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department aims to establish new design principles for high-performance battery materials that can be integrated into the vehicle structure. This project will result in battery prototypes that provide a combination of energy storage performance, geometric versatility, and structural integrity that is critical to the performance targets set by the Lamborghini Terzo Millennio.
