When it comes to Bugatti and its new Chiron hypercar, the word “limitation” has no application to it whatsoever. That’s even more true now that Autocar is reporting that Bugatti is considering adding a hybrid powertrain for the 1,479-horsepower hypercar in an attempt to make it more insane than it already is.

Speaking with the website, Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Durheimer said that the French automaker isn’t ruling out the possibility of adding electric motors to add to the Chiron’s existing 8.0-liter quad-turbo V-16 engine. The caveat to leaving that door slightly ajar is that Bugatti isn’t going to do it unless there’s a need to push the Chiron’s performance capabilities well past its existing 1,479-horsepower output. Such a scenario seems unlikely on the surface, but if there’s anything the company has learned from it’s time with the Veyron, it’s that competition can come in the unlikeliest of places and in the event the Chiron becomes vulnerable to another supercar, there’s a “next level” door that the French automaker can kick to unleash even more power out of its new crown jewel.

Details about a possible hybrid powertrain have yet to be revealed and rightfully so. If Bugatti does have that ace up it’s sleeve, don’t expect it to wave it around for all the world to see. The Chiron is a performance car after all and Bugatti’s main purpose for the car is for it to be the fastest and most powerful production car in the world. If that status is threatened, then that’s likely the time the French automaker begins laying out the groundwork for a hybrid-powered Chiron, one that can push past the limits of the existing version into God-knows-where.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Why it matters

When you speak in a language of excess like Bugatti does, the scope of what’s possible is a lot harder to define. That’s what we’re dealing with here because a hybrid-powered Chiron that adds power to a car that already does 1,479 horses is kind of hard to imagine. I’m not going to waste time drooling over the possibilities because there are simply too many of them. I mean, is it possible that Bugatti has the ability to increase the Chiron’s output to 2,000 horsepower if it slaps four electric motors on each of the Chiron’s wheels?

I don’t know the answer to that and quite frankly, I don’t want to know. There are still some parts about this industry that’s best left to surprises and this most certainly qualifies as one of them. We may never get to see it if the Chiron remains unchallenged throughout the course of its life, but in the event that another hypercar comes close to threatening it, there’s a chance that we can get all the answers we need.

Here’s what I do know. If Bugatti does end up going the hybrid route on the Chiron, expect that development to shake up the supercar industry right down to its core. And for what it's worth, I'm secretly hoping it happens.

Bugatti Chiron

Read our full review on the Bugatti Chiron here.