Taking the $604,000 Lamborghini Revuelto Hybrid for a experience: a evaluation

It didn’t end there. At every gas stop (there were several—this car loves petrol) along the sun-scorched route up through California farmland, all the dudes at the other pumps posed nonchalantly as they waited to hear the engine burst. When I pulled away in silence, they shifted uneasily, mystified. Byeee, boys!

Once I made it to Carmel, the knowledge that I could hit the ignition button and roll secretly away into the cool morning fog motivated me to set my alarm earlier than normal. I did it each of the four days I drove the matte black-on-black Revuelto while covering Monterey Car Week, the annual meetup near Big Sur every August where auto enthusiasts gather to sell, show off and salivate over vehicles new and old. 

With a body that looks like a cross between a fighter jet, a bat and a bad attitude, the Revuelto proves electric technology can enhance the driving experience—not just detract from it. It’s an apex predator, the flagship of the line that most fully embodies the exciting potential of hybrid technology for the 61-year-old Italian brand.

The Essentials

Automobili Lamborghini SpA, of all companies, seems to have snuck its way to finding the right balance between electric and combustion engines for its customers, ahead of its much vaster competitors. It’s rolled out hybrids while Porsche AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Stellantis NV and others have suffered such disappointing electric vehicle sales they’re recalibrating their plans. The car industry is not OK, my colleague Craig Trudell writes. Ford Motor Co. just canceled a whole SUV. 

Lamborghini will hybridize every vehicle in its fleet but resist making a fully electric one as long as it can, says President and Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann. The pinnacle of its new hybrids is the Lamborghini Revuelto, unveiled in 2023 and delivering now. 

The Revuelto combines an 814-horsepower naturally aspirated V-12 engine with three electric motors for a total output of 1,001 horsepower. That’s more than anything else Lamborghini makes; it beats the 986-horsepower SF90 Stradale from arch-competitor Ferrari, too, for those keeping score. 

This is a hybrid you can plug in if you want, but you don’t have to. It’s easier to just flip the toggle switch on the steering wheel to automatically recharge the batteries that power electric-only mode as you drive. I did that in Citta mode as I cruised up Interstate 5 toward the cool of the Monterey Peninsula. The battery, which offers roughly 6 miles of electric-only driving, recharged itself in a matter of minutes. I watched in glee as the dashboard gauge showed its progress, knowing I’d have enough juice to switch back into silent stealth mode whenever I wanted. 

With revs to 9,500 rpm, the car will erupt into a tremendous roar whenever you engage that engine. Its eight-speed double-clutch transmission works seamlessly through four drive modes that can combine hybrid power with internal combustion, plus give all-wheel drive on demand. Or it can move through Strada, Sport and Corsa modes, which unleash its gasoline-powered, maniacal full potential. Hybrid mode is good for up to 93 mph. Lamborghini says top speed is 217 mph, but I wouldn’t know for sure, Officer. (I was going well under that speed when he pulled me over for a chat.)

The Good

Stealth mode alone isn’t why one buys a Lamborghini. I fell in love with the Revuelto for two reasons: the ineffable way it drives and its misfit good looks.

First, the drive: A rear-wheel steering system and torque-vectoring kept it planted as I drove to breakfast one morning among the wild corners of a hidden nature preserve in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Range, where Robert Louis Stevenson once convalesced. The Revuelto feels wider and longer around corners than I’d choose if I drove canyons every day—give me a tiny canyon-carver with a short gearbox for that—but on a weekend jaunt it felt like a grand display of Italian attitude. The carbon ceramic brakes with fixed monoblock calipers bit the moment I touched them; the electronic power steering was so dialed in, so consistent, it felt like my mind was directly connected to the wheels as I cruised through golden burnt grass and evergreens.

Still, the Revuelto is happiest in a straight line: preferably a flat, lonely, hot highway somewhere between Paso Robles and Carmel. I mean really, really happy. Everything about it feels geared toward speed. The quicker I drove, the better it felt. Trying to hold the car to 65 mph felt like entering limp mode.  

While not dead silent like that of a Rolls-Royce, its cabin remained surprisingly quiet even at high speeds. Its general aura just smoothed out at warp speeds, like that part in the opening credits of Star Trek where the spaceship hangs for a moment and then disappears into deep space. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to jump from 75 mph to, er, faster.

As for looks? It’s basically a shank. This car is all daggers from the point of its nose to the tip of its tail, with a gobstopping eyeful of the engine right inside, thanks to the see-through panel in the back. Its edges evoke the splendidly angry Lamborghinis of its past, like the wedgy Countach and the big-hipped Diablo. Plenty of people would call it gaudy and outré, an immature demand for attention or a tasteless attempt to secure superficial status. But I find its contrarian nature delightful—at least it has attitude. That’s far better than a lozenge-shaped blob or some EV appliance designed to maximize drag coefficient without any thought to beauty, style or feeling. 

The Bad

No surprises here. Rear visibility is compromised because of the sloped angle of the roof and the oversize aero details on the sides of the car. (You should be looking down the road in front of you anyway, right?) 

Gas mileage is terrible. The electric motors aren’t there to enhance fuel efficiency: They’re for offsetting emissions requirements and do-gooder appearances’ sake. The car gets 23 miles per gallon equivalent in hybrid mode; it gets 12 mpg in combined city and highway driving without it. 

I filled up the gas tank twice on the way north, then at least twice more during the course of the week. The pain point wasn’t so much the high price of gas. I doubt anyone spending more than half a million dollars on this car, plus the $4,500 gas-guzzler tax, will be concerned about budgetary constraints. It was the time spent at the pump that created the inconvenience.

Another nonsurprise: This low car is usable for practical purposes only thanks to the automatic lift kit, which, with the touch of a tiny round button on the steering wheel, will raise the front a fraction of an inch—enough to get you out of sticky situations like, you know, just trying to pull up to a restaurant.

But even that security blanket can’t mitigate the veneer of anxiety one develops when maneuvering something this long, low and expensive in close quarters. Again, for an owner of such a machine, I expect it’s not the cost of replacing one of the rims ($5,500 for the four, which isn’t expensive compared with many aftermarket rims for vintage Porsches) if you curb it—it’s the time wasted while the vehicle is in the repair shop rather than being driven in all its glory.

Other gripes that compiled over the course of a week: Both indicator buttons were smooshed together on the left side of the steering wheel, rather than placed one on each side, as in a Ferrari. It made for awkward, unintuitive indicating with my thumbs. And the scissor doors should be lighter to push open and closed.

Lamborghini has never been heralded for its interiors. There’s room to improve here, too, with the touchscreen in the center of the dashboard, which was tilted at such an angle that it almost always glared in the sun and attracted fingerprints like iron shavings to a magnet. The Bluetooth connected automatically only by the last day I had the car; I’m still not even sure how that happened. 

If You Remember One Thing

Some cars are better than others, and the astounding Lamborghini Revuelto is just that. It’s an effortlessly fast spaceship designed for special occasions and priced accordingly. If you buy one, get a radar detector while you’re at it. It might just help you avoid a speeding ticket. I learned that the hard way.