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The Street
The Street
Rob Lenihan

Bugatti Is Preparing to Overtake Tesla Once and for All

When Ettore Bugatti in 1909 founded the auto company that bears his name, his motto was simple: "If it is comparable, it is no longer Bugatti.”

Little doubt, then, that the company has turned out some mighty impressive vehicles its in time. 

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In 1929 a privately entered Bugatti won the first ever Monaco Grand Prix and Jean-Pierre Wimille, driving Bugatti, won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1937 and again in 1939.

Some of the most famous Bugatti vehicles include the Chiron and the La Voiture Noire. 

A New Era for Bugatti: Electric Vehicles

The company has driven through rough terrain over the years. The brand was acquired by Volkswagen (VWAGY) in 1998 and  is currently majority-owned by the Croatian electric vehicle company Rimac in partnership with VW subsidiary Porsche.

Rimac produces the Nevera hypercar, which clocks 0 to 60 mph in 1.85 seconds. The car, reaching 256 mph with 1,914 horsepower, sells for $2.27 million to $2.5 million.

Bugatti last year announced the passing of its famed W16 engine after nearly two decades of service as it prepared to take on Tesla (TSLA) and other electric-vehicle makers.

"The only 16-cylinder engine in the world to be used in a car, it is a veritable engineering masterpiece that has become an icon in its own right," Bugatti said at the time. 

"Never before had a production vehicle featured an engine which was so powerful, yet so compact and able to cruise as easily as it could obliterate acceleration records," the company said.

Bugatti: Charging Up for the Future

Bugatti's electrification work will take place in a new design hub in Berlin, which Rimac announced last March. Bugatti will maintain its production facilities in Molsheim, France.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but published reports suggest the Bugatti EV is due in 2027 and could cost more than $5 million.

In addition to the Nevera, other vehicles in the multimillion-dollar club include the Deus Vayanne hypercar, which is due to roll out in 2025 and expected to go for around $2 million, and the Lotus Evija, which starts at $2.3 million.

And let's not forget the Aspark Owl, which comes with a $4 million price tag, the Automobili Battista Pininfarina coming in $2.2 million, and the Nio (NIO) EP9, which sells for about $3.5 million.

Of course, Bugatti already has marked a spot in the EV space. 

Last year, the company launched a $1,200 electric scooter through a partnership with tech accessory company Bytech.

Bugatti unveiled its 2023 version of scooter in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

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