Lancia Pu+Ra HPE brings Italian design into electric era

After more than ten years, Lancia has come out with a newly-designed car. The Pu+Ra HPE is not meant for production, but it shows the way for the next decade as Lancia embarks on its renaissance in the electric era. And it’s very much a designer’s car, with countless new materials, classic inspirations, and a focus on sustainability.

Let’s begin with the name. The Lancia Pu+Ra HPE is called that way because of its ‘pure and radical’ design, while the classic HPE moniker now stands for ‘High Performance Electric’ rather than ‘High Performance Estate’, as it was for the Beta from the 1970s.

Stratos-like

But the focus of the Pu+Ra HPE is not on its performance. Its spec sheet is, therefore, quite limited, with Lancia only looking forward to what it aims for in terms of range (700+ km), charging times (“just over 10 minutes”), and energy consumption (<10 kWh per 100 km).

The rest of the press release is focused on its design. We can see some influence from the Stratos, especially in the windows and at the rear. Lancia, however, prefers to speak of a new design language where “the cars’ volumes are created from the intersection of elementary and iconic forms such as the circle and the triangle, combined with a few eclectic details”.

The circle is clearly present in the interior, with a perfectly round sunroof and a similarly-shaped center console. This console and the rest of the tech on board integrate the ‘Effortless Technology’ principle, adapting to the surroundings and the passengers’ moods and predicting what they may like to hear, see, and feel.

Cassina armchairs

Lancia mostly wants passengers to feel at home inside their cars, which is manifested in this case by furniture from the Italian brand Cassina. They designed the front seats, inspired by the Maralunga armchairs, with a panno Lancia wool upholstery.

The door panels, meanwhile, are covered in a new material called ‘Marm More’, which is made from marble dust waste and recycled fabric, creating a soft-touch and waterproof material.

While the Pu+Ra HPE seems to live in an imaginary world, Lancia has shared its concrete plans for the rest of the decade. The first new model will be the New Ypsilon in 2024, available in both electric and hybrid forms as a transition model. A more sporty Ypsilon HF is to follow in 2025.

After the Ypsilon, Lancia will only build electric models. 2026 will see the launch of the new Gamma, while the new Delta is expected in 2028, after which the hybrid Ypsilon will exit the model range, and Lancia will become electric-only.

Lancia will begin its renaissance in six European countries (Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), all of them markets where there’s an affinity for compact, premium, and Italian cars.