Lancia Looks To The Future With Its All-Electric Concept Car

Lancia has unveiled the concept car that will form the basis for its upcoming electric vehicles. It marks a starting point for Lancia's all-electric future, and like many concept cars it's packed with interesting features. Perhaps the most interesting is a circular roof offering panoramic views of the area surrounding the vehicle. While quirky features like this are often limited to the concept stage of design, other EV manufacturers have made bold decisions with their rooves, so there's a chance we'll see it on a future production vehicle. 

The vehicle itself allegedly takes inspiration from "the world of Italian furniture design" and the vehicle manufacturer has partnered with Italian firm Cassina to help explore this concept — although the bodywork has a similar futuristic feel to other EVs. It looks a bit like a space shuttle, with plenty of LEDs to lead the eye. However, unlike certain electric SUVs, there is a sporty element. The Italian furniture influence is apparent on the inside, though, with its round carpet and armchair-inspired seats. The vehicle also makes use of parent company Stellantis' Chameleon and TAPE (Tailored Predictive Experience) technologies.

Lancia

Lancia CEO Luca Napolitano issued a press release outlining how the concept will play a part in the company's upcoming vehicles. He said: "Today Lancia presents Lancia Pu+Ra HPE, the brand vision for the next 10 years that takes the brand into the era of electric mobility and sums up our way of conceiving and experiencing the car. Starting with the new Ypsilon, our cars of the future will be inspired by the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE."

The concept's features are more creative than its name, as it has been titled the Pu+Ra HPE. If you find that name confusing, don't worry. It all makes sense when you break it down. The "Pu+Ra" part is a reference to Lancia's "pure and radical" design philosophy. HPE is a bit more straightforward, as it simply stands for "High Performance Electric." The vehicles based on the concept have some ambitious stats, although they are designed around some basic standards. The 700 kilometer (435 mile) range isn't too much of a stretch, as it is slightly more than anything Tesla currently offers but less than both the Lucid Air and the extended-range version of Dodge's upcoming Ram 1500 REV.

Lancia

However, one vague note from the press release states that the target for charging time is "just over 10 minutes." As things stand, many manufacturers can put a tremendous amount of range into their cars' batteries in around that amount of time, and DC fast charging is a game changer when it comes to charging times. Still, other cars on the market can only add between 100 and 200 miles of range with a 10-minute charge, meaning a full charge in that time would be industry-leading. Power consumption is also ambitious, with a target of below 10 kWh per 100 km. 

While these are very lofty targets, Lancia did state that the plan applies over the next ten years. Given the rate at which EVs are advancing, they might actually have a decent chance of pulling this off.