Pagani may be minuscule compared to its compatriots Ferrari and Lamborghini, but what it lacks in size it has always made up for in terms of sheer spectacle, sound, and sex appeal. In 19 years of existence, the company still hasn't sold 500 cars, yet founder and visionary Horacio Pagani has already begun plotting a high-powered EV which will serve not just as the company's highest performing flagship model, but also as a beacon for what should be demanded from electric cars made by all manufacturers.

"There is electric-car research already ongoing," Pagani told Car and Driver. "That is not something you can just pretend not to see, that everyone is developing something in this direction. The management is already organizing the company to have a division specifically for electric cars. Already, by the end of 2018, the idea is to have a section where electric cars can be developed and tested." Clearly, Pagani wants to take his pioneering reputation and apply it to electric cars. His company has always danced on the cutting edge of materials, science, and technology, which will help the small firm dispatch the weight and size of battery packs.

"We aren't really challenging with crazy horsepower," he continued, "it is more about lightweight vehicles with extremely good drivability. Transfer this to an electric vehicle, and you can imagine what we are looking for: an extremely lightweight that will probably be a benchmark for electric cars in the future." Pagani also confirmed that its long-running technical partnership with Daimler, which was brokered by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, will continue well into the electric era. "Mercedes has the technology available, and thanks to the relationship, we have access to that technology, which is probably in the pipeline, we could say, for our research."

However, Horacio Pagani wants to create an electric car with a manual transmission. "That was the first question when I went to the design and engineering team: Can we have a manual transmission with an electric car?" While unnecessary to an electric drivetrain, Pagani knows it's important to the purists. "Looking at what our customers around the world want, we can tell you that maybe some clients didn't buy the Huayra because it didn't have the option of a manual transmission. There was a time when everybody wanted a dual-clutch transmission, but now the purists are saying that they want to go back to a manual because [an auto] lacks the emotion that you get changing gears yourself."