Pininfarina Drops The Load With Teaser of Upcoming 250-MPH PF0 Hypercar

The general rule with automotive startups is to see what they’re offering, and then take it with a grain of salt. Time and again, we’ve seen startup brands promise the world with electric supercars, only to watch those promises go up in smoke for one reason or another. That said, something’s different about Automobili Pininfarina. The automaker is barely a week old, but it traces its roots to one of the most respected auto design houses in the world. That should count for something, especially now that Automobili Pininfarina has its first model, the PF0 electric hypercar, in development.

Keep the buckets of salt away; you won’t need it. Automobili Pininfarina may be a start-up in the technical sense of the word, but it’s not the kind of ambitious startup that’s shooting beyond its range. Not only does it have the tradition of the “Pininfarina” name backing it up, it also has a number of factors in its favor, including having one of the best auto designers in the business, Luca Borgogno, the same man responsible for the drop-dead gorgeous 2010 Stratos that captivated our hearts and loins.

Give Borgogno an idea of what you want an all-electric to look like and he’s going to knock it out of the park. If you need more proof, feast your eyes on this sketch. The PFO looks downright mental. Granted, we don’t get to see the entire design of the car, but from the looks of it, we see a huge glass cockpit, massive separated spoilers in the front and back, and carbon fiber body curves that could go on for days. Oh, and those it also has one of those full-length LCDs that seem to be the rage in the auto industry these days. According to Top Gear, the car will also feature “an element that references the Seventies staple pop-up headlights.” Color us intrigued.

Not much is known about the car’s interior, but the word “audacious” is being thrown around to describe it. Apparently, it’s going to feature a driver-centric layout with a “vanishing point” aspect to the main display.

From a performance perspective, Pininfarina says that the PF0 is capable of hitting 250 mph without breaking a sweat. That’s largely due to an electric powertrain that will be developed by no less than Rimac, the Swiss supercar brand responsible for the Concept One and and the upcoming C_Two supercars. Rimac also happens to be one of the few startups that actually came through on its word of launching a mind-numbing supercar. Richard Hammond would know.

In any event, word on the street is that the PF0 is also capable of accelerating from 0 to 62 mph in less than two seconds and 0 to 186 mph in less than 12 seconds. If you’re not down for those kind of speed runs, you can drive the car economically and get 310 miles of range out of it.

With all that in place, the PF0 is expected to sell for £1.7 million per unit. That converts to around $2.4 million based on current exchange rates. Pininfarina only plans to sell around 90 units of the hypercar so you can be sure that if it lives up to expectations, those 90 units will sell out faster than it takes the car to reach 250 mph.

The obvious question now is whether the PF0 is actually a real thing, or if it’s nothing more than an ambitious unicorn that won’t end up getting built. Fortunately for all of us, the man writing the checks, Mahindra chairman Anand Mahindra, wants to see it happen. “This will enable us to fulfil our vision of participating at the very pinnacle of automotive design and manufacturing,” he says, referring to the PF0. “We believe we can’t stretch the Mahindra brand too far out, nor can you stretch the Pininfarina name too far down. Luxury is the meeting point of heritage and craftsmanship, which is what Pininfarina has. You can’t just create that. It would take 90 years to build what Pininfarina has.”

Cross your fingers that his words are worth more than his $9.4 billion worth of assets.