Aida! Pininfarina Battista EV hypercar will sound like a Verdi opera

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The Pininfarina Battista is entering a competitive EV hypercar battle

Automobili Pininfarina Battista press photos on the roads in California
(Image credit: Automobili Pininfarina)

With the unveiling of the Automobili Pininfarina Battista, the EV hypercar space is getting hypercompetitive. 

In a press release, Italian design firm Automobili Pininfarina gave new details on the Battista, an electric hypercar with 1,900 brake horsepower. According to Autocar, the Battista will have a 0-62mph time of less than two seconds and a top speed of 217mph. This could put it at striking distance of the upcoming Tesla Roadster — although, most buyers will probably opt for the Tesla, as the Battista has a starting price of $2.5 million. 

Automobili Pininfarina is an Italian design firm behind iconic cars such as the Ferrari Testarossa and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. 

Underneath the Battista is all the fixings of a multi-million dollar hypercar. That includes what it calls Black Exposed Signature Carbon bodywork, "exquisitely crafted" in its manufacturing facility in Cambiano, Italy, and precision polished Impulso forged aluminum alloy wheels. Inside, drivers can expect "optional Pilota seats finished in sustainable black leather and quilted Iconica Blu Alcantara upholstery, with Iconica Blu contrast stitching, complemented by the Interior Jewellery Pack finished in brushed aluminum anodized in black."

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Automobili Pininfarina Battista press photos on the roads in California
(Image credit: Automobili Pininfarina)

Pininfarina is also touting the "unique soundscape" of the Battista. Per the flowery language found in the press release, "The individual sound is being tuned to create an emotional reaction for occupants and onlookers, ensuring Battista will deliver an intoxicating experience for all the senses."

The soundscape has a core low rumbling frequency of 54 Hz, with "organic frequency that is a multiple of 432 Hz — known as 'Verdi’s A,' conceived by famous Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi."

Without going into a complicated dive into music theory, when music is tuned for 432 Hz for the A note, versus 440 Hz, the space between all notes can be spaced apart in a way that is considered more mathematically sound. Youtuber Adam Neely has a great video that breaks it all down. There are actually apps that detune your music down to 432 Hz to achieve these more perfect frequencies.

In terms of design, the Battista doesn't look as striking as the Lotus Evija or Rimac Nevera. In some ways, it looks like a larger mid-2000s Lotus Elise. Although the Battista's battery pack was designed by Rimac and Tech Mahindra's Formula-e racing team. Pininfarina actually claims that the Battista is faster than a Formula 1 race car in a 0 -100 kmh sub-two second sprint. The four electric motors will be powered by a 120 kWh battery providing 310 miles of range, based on Europe's new Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure.

Only 150 Battista's will be made and Pininfarina is expecting to fulfill client deliveries later this year.

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Imad Khan
Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.