Loaded with details
Lancia gets new energy under the leadership of Stellantis. The brand will be introducing completely new models in the coming years and with this study model called Lancia Pu-Ra HPE, the brand gives an indication of what you can expect from the rising brand in terms of design.
Lancia is only a shadow of what it once was. The brand is currently only active in its home country of Italy, where it is selling a warmed-up but in principle already 12-year-old Ypsilon for the umpteenth time. That can no longer be the case, parent company Stellantis seems to think. Even more than Alfa Romeo, Lancia is being shaken up. The brand will come in 2026 with an electric SUV that positions it as a flagship, in 2028 with a new and fully electric Delta and as early as 2024 we can welcome a new Ypsilon. With this Pu+Ra HPE concept car, Lancia shows which design path it will take with new energy in the coming years.
The Lancia Pu+Ra HPE is, in contrast to the earlier banner of Lancia’s future design language, actually a car. Lancia previously made it clear that it would use many geometric shapes in the designs of its future new models. The Pu+Ra HPE is overloaded with clean lines, triangular shapes and circles, capped off with a bunch of eclectic details. According to Lancia, its new house style is therefore an example of timeless Italian design. Before we discuss the actual car, we should look at the name of the study model. You will undoubtedly know the designation HPE from the Beta HPE, a three-door hatchback or shooting brake where the three-letter combination stood for High Performance Estate. HPE now stands for High Performance Electric. Lancia undoubtedly wants to emphasize that it will come with electric cars. Lancia will introduce EVs from 2026. The Ypsilon will arrive next year and is not only available with electric powertrains, but also with hybrid technology.
Lancia Pu+Ra HPE.
Full of references
Lancia is not much at the moment, but it has a rich history to draw from. It is therefore not surprising that it has overloaded the Pu+Ra HPE with references to models from the past. For example, the paint called Progressive Green in which the study model is made is a reference to the Lancia Flaminia Azzurro Vincennes. You may also see references to Lancias of yesteryear in the shapes and lines of the Pu+Ra HPE. For example, the Italians wink at the Aurelia and Flaminia with the sloping shoulder line towards the back. Clearer are the references to the legendary Stratos. In particular, the shape of the windows and the rear with its two round taillights are reminiscent of that coupé. Those taillights are interesting for another reason. They are LED circles placed almost separately from the bodywork that form a bridge between the rear spoiler-like part on the back and the piece of bodywork below. Between the rear lights, as the Grand Handbook Autodesign seems to prescribe nowadays, the brand name is written in cow letters.
Lancia Pu+Ra HPE.
The shape of the black ‘mask’ that the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE wears on its muzzle refers to the shape of the grilles that Lancia has used for years. Perhaps even more striking are the three LED stripes that, according to Lancia, together form a chalice. ‘Lancia’ is written in the center of the front, but the old Lancia emblem remains in a refreshed form. You will find it on the side screens and, just like before, it again contains shapes that represent a steering wheel, a flag and flagpole and a shield. More references to Lancias from days gone by? Certainly. Just look at the horizontal stripes in the rear window with which Lancia pays homage to grilles in the C-pillars of the aforementioned Beta HPE. Viewed from above, the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE also has an intriguing appearance, thanks to the strikingly round shape of the glass roof.
Especially the references to the Stratos are hard to miss.
Interior
No automotive vision of the future without a futuristic interior, so the workplace of the Pu+Ra HPE is one that you will undoubtedly have to get used to. In the interior, which is overloaded with geometric shapes, we see, among other things, two round or rounded ‘tables’. The first is in the center tunnel, the second and much larger one covers the entire center part of the dashboard and is made of glass. No study model without a passage about environmentally friendly materials and so, according to the Italians, 70 percent of what you can see in the interior is made of ecologically sustainable material. Wool is used for the seat upholstery and the carpet, Lancia uses material that is largely made of marble powder and we come across various wood accents.
Lancia Pu+Ra HPE.
Modern heart
According to Lancia, the Pu+Ra HPE symbolizes what it will be up to in the next ten years. It is therefore not surprising that the study model has an electric powertrain. Lancia says little about that, except that the concept car should be able to drive more than 700 kilometers on a full battery. Almost all things in the car can be operated by means of what Lancia calls Sound Air Light Augmentation (SALA). SALA is a minimalist digital interface that allows you to control things like climate control and lighting. However, physical buttons are also available, we see buttons on and on the sides of the narrow center tunnel with which you operate things such as the seat adjustment or choose the direction of travel. A derivative of the SALA interface will in any case be used in all new Lancias and so next year in the Ypsilon.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl