Inside the New Lamborghini Urus SE’s 789-HP Plug-In Hybrid Powertrain
If ever there was a PHEV that was more about power than it was about thrift, this is it.
Frank MarkusWriterApr 24, 2024
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Following up on the Revuelto plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that launched last year to replace the Aventador supercar, Lamborghini’s electrification journey will continue with the higher-volume 2025 Lamborghini Urus SE, which borrows heavily from VW Group sister brand Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid playbook, dialing everything from that SUV up to 11 or possibly 13.
Huge Power, With an Electric Boost
Like the Cayenne, the Urus SE brings the noise with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, which in this hyper-ute churns out a total of 611 hp and 590 lb-ft (in its slightly more stoic cousin from Stuttgart, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, this engine makes 591 and 590). Sandwiched between it and the eight-speed automatic transmission is a similarly fortified permanent-magnet electric motor that makes 189 hp and 356 lb-ft of torque (up from Stuttgart’s 174 hp and 339 lb-ft). With wildly different power and torque peaks, combustion engine and electric motor peak values are seldom purely additive, and in this case the Lambo’s net values peak at 789 hp and 701 lb-ft, while the Porsche makes 729 hp and 700 lb-ft.
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0–60 MPH in Under 3.0 Seconds?
For now, Lamborghini is only quoting a weight-to-power figure, and that’s just under 7 pounds/horsepower. That undercuts the Cayenne’s 8.5 by a bunch, but it also is likely based on dry weight. Even so, Sant’Agata can’t have its bulls being outrun by schnitzelwagens, so expect our acceleration results to undercut both the factory’s nought-to-60-mph figure of 3.4 seconds and Porsche’s 0-to-60 claim of 3.1 seconds. Keep your foot in it and the 2025 Lamborghini Urus SE should top out at 194 mph.
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Variable Front-to-Rear Torque Biasing
Instead of a Torsen center diff, the new Urus SE will use a multiplate wet clutch to apportion torque to the front and rear axles, with the capability of splitting front/rear torque anywhere from 0/100 to 50/50. In back there’s an electronically controlled limited slip differential, but any side-to-side torque vectoring is left to the brakes. Drifty hoonanigans are easily facilitated by the Lamborghini developed chassis control system, which has authority over both differentials and a rear-wheel steering system.
Up to 37 Miles in EV Mode
The 2025 Lamborghini Urus SE’s 25.9-kWh battery pack, located just above the rear differential under the cargo floor, can usher the Urus 37 miles across a combustion-free urban zone in silence, provided you keep a light throttle foot. Toeing more than about half-way into the throttle pedal will light the engine, but hey—Lambo drivers are all about restraint, right? Again, the motivation for giving the Urus a PHEV option was increasing total power and filling in any turbo-lag. So read the inevitably lofty EPA mpg-e figures as pure fiction, though this SE’s post-battery-rundown combined figure should theoretically be more efficient than the Urus S and Performante models.
Frank Markus
I started critiquing cars at age 5 by bumming rides home from church in other parishioners’ new cars. At 16 I started running parts for an Oldsmobile dealership and got hooked on the car biz. Engineering seemed the best way to make a living in it, so with two mechanical engineering degrees I joined Chrysler to work on the Neon, LH cars, and 2nd-gen minivans. Then a friend mentioned an opening for a technical editor at another car magazine, and I did the car-biz equivalent of running off to join the circus. I loved that job too until the phone rang again with what turned out to be an even better opportunity with Motor Trend. It’s nearly impossible to imagine an even better job, but I still answer the phone…