Skip to main content

Lamborghini goes to school partnering with MIT for future super sports cars

lamborghini mit partnership 2016 huracan 580 2
Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends
Did you hear the one about the hot Italian and the engineering students? Well, the Volkswagen Group wants you to know its Lamborghini brand just formed a relationship with the MIT-Italy Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to a VW Group news release.

Is is not a weekend seminar or a semester study, but a partnership for the next 1,000 years, according to Lamborghini’s Chairman and CEO, Stefano Domenicali. “We want people to think of us more and more as a trendsetter in the super luxury and sports car segment,” Domenicali said in the statement. “MIT has always been a pioneer in innovation and we are proud to have signed this general agreement with such an illustrious institution, which will lead to the study of issues of mutual interest relating to the super sports car for the third millennium.”

Recommended Videos

The primary focus of the joint research will be in new automotive materials. Lamborghini engineers and MIT students and teaching staff will collaborate on projects and workshops. The goal is to identify “mutually interesting, cutting-edge research projects” leading to super sports cars for the future.

MIT-Italy Program co-director Serenella Sferza said, “MIT-Italy is a two-way bridge linking MIT and outstanding names in Italian industry. It is hard for us to imagine a better partner than Lamborghini, and we are looking forward to the projects that this partnership will help us develop.”

The partnership is also about international trade. Michele Scannavini, the Chairman of ICE, the Italian trade agency said, “Last year, Italian technology in general came first in terms of overall trade with the USA, with a share of 30 percent … agreements like this with Lamborghini are proof of the undisputed excellence of our industries in the field of innovation.”

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Rivian, VW venture kicks off next-gen platform for R1, Scout EVs
Rivian R2, R3, and R3X

The big challenge for Rivian, the EV maker known for its innovative electric and software systems, has long been how to reach the next stage of growth.

That stage came within reach in June, when the California-based company and Volkswagen announced a joint venture involving a $5 billion injection from the German automaker.

Read more
Kia EV3: everything we know so far
White Kia EV3

Kia is on a roll. Hot on the heels of the success of the Kia EV6 and EV9, the company is now expanding its lineup even further, with the new EV3.

The EV3 was announced some time ago, but it's now rolling out in Europe with a solid range and a relatively low price tag. That low price tag, however, thankfully doesn't mean that the EV3 is a low-end vehicle -- on the contrary, it still offers everything you know and love about modern Kia vehicles.

Read more
I reviewed an electric car like it was a phone, and I came to a shocking conclusion
The front of the Cupra Born VZ.

The Cupra Born VZ is not a smartphone — it’s an electric car. Yet, during my time driving it over the last five days, it has reminded me more than once about the device I spend most of my time using and reviewing.

This is not a put-down, nor is it a comment on electric versus combustion-engine vehicles, but more about how I, someone who doesn’t professionally review cars, can still easily recognize what’s good and bad about it. What’s more, the categories I usually break phone reviews down into, and the language I regularly use to talk about them, also neatly applies to the Born VZ.

Read more