Pininfarina’s Battista electric supercar turns its first laps on test track

You might recall that Pininfarina was at Pebble Beach in 2019 showing its $2.25 million Battista electric supercar to potential customers. The Italian design house and coachbuilder has an update on the car — Former Formula 1 racer Nick Heidfeld has been fine-tuning the car’s dynamic capabilities on the Nardò Technical Center track.

“What really surprised me was how natural the Battista feels on the track,” Heidfeld is quoted in the Pininfarina news release. “We are creating a hyper GT to be enjoyed at all speeds, yet here in Nardò the cornering control and speed we achieved were exceptional.

“This is not a normal car,” he adds in a video report on his testing.

Heidfeld joined the Automobili Pininfarina development team in 2019. 

“His unparalleled knowledge and more than 25 years of experience in high performance motorsport continue to support refinement of Battista’s bespoke chassis settings and software calibration, ahead of the hyper GT entering production in Italy in the summer of 2021,” Pininfarina said.

“It has been really special to experience the Battista on the track for the first time,” Heidfeld said. “With the prototype at an advanced stage of development, we are testing Battista with around 80 per cent of its potential power, the performance and acceleration is already beyond anything I could imagine.