In the Name of the Father

From the driver’s seat, there’s no evident compromise to its propulsion system, no cheap plastic parts to reduce weight or cost, no gimmicky EV styling in the dashboard. Every inch is elegant.

That’s not to say there aren’t any compromises in this grand tourer. The frunk ahead accommodates 18.7 gallons, which feels paltry, and the trunk in the back feels like it should be a hatchback. I had the same complaint with the Taycan.

Space for rear passengers is not vast, but the individual bucket-type seats look very nice, particularly when trimmed in Cascade gray herringbone tweed, and this car’s panoramic roof alleviates any sense of claustrophobia. The front seats are attractive, and the Alcantara microfiber that covers the steering wheel is a tactile delight. Walnut inlays along the dash would have been seen as frumpy not so many years ago, but here they look modern and, confusingly, rather cool while also adding warmth. The standard interior is entirely free of animal products and, combined with the exterior, creates an overall design that’s attractive bordering on stunning, recognizably Audi. Best yet, it doesn’t scream “I’m electric!”

The rear doors are light and hardly seem as though they belong to a 5139-pound car. On the road, weight is as much a mirage as the squiggly cities on the Mojave horizon. The GT is composed, lithe, and well balanced. The extraordinary speed that passes to the tires catches you on some turns—especially those first few arcs at the edge of Mulholland—but the chassis never loses its poise. The steering is a touch too light, and the way my inputs translate to the 21-inch Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5s is immediate, if a little jumpy.

Rear-wheel steering is optional on the base GT (a roughly $100,000 car), though it comes standard on this $143,000 RS version. The brakes are 16.5-inch tungsten-carbide-coated discs up front and 16.1-inchers in the rear.

There is no electric car as beautiful as the E-Tron GT. It has sculpted lines and a profile that is more athletic than the somewhat puffed-up Porsche Taycan. Its dramatic presence outplays anything in the family of Tesla burner-phone cars.

For all the old-school joy I derive from taking the E-Tron up in the hills, it has one fatal flaw that will inhibit it in the market. Driven normally— which is to say, in the most conservative of the three available driving modes (Efficiency, Comfort, and Dynamic)—it provides just 232 miles of range. In my opinion, that’s plenty. Few drivers in the U.S. would cover that ground in a single trip more than once a year (the average distance an American drives every day is less than 30 miles).

But the reality of our driving behavior is beside the point. The American consumer feels range anxiety, and that’s something Tesla, with models that offer over 400 miles of EPA-verified range, is more than happy to capitalize on.

The counterargument—that the concept of a road trip is an edge case, that it’s uncommon driving behavior—doesn’t hold water in a grand tourer. This Audi is built for a drive along a winding highway in its most exciting, least efficient mode. A perfect day is materially impacted by its limited range.

On the other hand, it’s one of the best EV GT cars so far. Some day, the engineers at Volkswagen—the same ones building the Taycan and the nascent Rimac-Bugatti EV hypercar—will solve the E-Tron’s range issue. When they do, perhaps then we’ll have been to Electric Ladyland.

B

A. Our photography vehicle was equipped with Audi’s optional napa-leather interior, but the cloth option is no less impressive. B. Outside or in, the RS

E-Tron GT has the stately, striking presence of a swift and capable grand tourer. C. That sneaky little RS badge is one of few visual cues that you opted for the car with 637 hp.

F e r ra r i i s n ’ t t h at i n t o Pininfarina anymore. So what does Pininfarina do now? The name has been around since 1930. The only car ever sold under it was the pokey 102-hp Azzurra Spider, an old Fiat the famed Italian design house kept around to stay busy in the Eighties. But now it’s created a new company to build a $2.4 million, 1877-hp, two-seat, all-electric, all-wheel-drive supercar. Is that enough?

The Battista literally vibrates in anticipation of a journey. Pininfarina has equipped it with speakers that constantly hum a musical chord for character and drama. This adds a vibrato resonance to the carbon-fiber structure but goes unnoticed at speed. It’s simultaneously menacing and reassuring, depending on whether you’re inside or outside the car. A 4400-pound road rocket that can reach 217 mph shouldn’t be too quiet. Within every existential crisis lies an opportunity.

With money from India, a headquarters in Germany, Swedish CEO Per Svantesson, and plenty of help from Croatia’s Rimac, what Automobili Pininfarina has decided to be is embodied in this carbon-fiber ogre named after the design house’s founder, Battista “Pinin” Farina.

To be clear, Carrozzeria Pininfarina is the oldschool design firm. Automobili Pininfarina is the new car company leveraging the recognizable name and design tradition. The Pininfarina design studios are still in Cambiano, Italy. Meanwhile, Automobili Pininfarina is in Munich.

The Battista has the familiar form of a midengine supercar. That, however, is a comforting sop to convention. An electric motor drives each wheel, and a massive T-shaped battery pack fills most of the nooks and crannies. If form strictly followed function, it might not look like this at all.

Faux mid-engine it may be, but it’s not built to dominate racetracks. “We decided to stay away from the Nürburgring because, basically, it’s not a venue suited to us,” explains Georgios Syropoulos, chassis dynamics manager and chief test driver for the Battista. “This is not a car we’ve pushed to market as a lap-timing product. But we are using another venue that’s actually probably equally—if not more—prestigious when it comes to supercar