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Pininfarina's Nido EV
has made its road debut in Rome: Paolo Pininfarina
and the city's Mayor Gianni Alemanno drove
to the Quirinale where the were received by
the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio
Napolitano. |
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Celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Pininfarina have continued in Rome with
the debut on the road of the Nido EV. At the Campidoglio the electric
prototype developed by Pininfarina was presented by Chairman Paolo Pininfarina to
the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno. Together, aboard the Nido EV, they
reached the Quirinale, where the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio
Napolitano received the Pininfarina family and hosted in the gardens of
the Palace the 50 cars taking part in the Concours d’Elegance Bovet Italia Classica 2010.
The Nido EV is the first
running prototype of the "Development Program Nido", an
electric car project entirely designed, engineered and
built by the Style and Engineering Center Pininfarina at
Cambiano, Turin. The Nido EV has now faced for the first
time an urban route with two exceptional passengers on
board: the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno and the
Chairman Paolo Pininfarina. Through the centre of Rome,
the Nido EV left the Piazza del Campidoglio to reach the
Quirinale where it was displayed in the courtyard of the
Palace together with the classic cars participating in
Italia Classica, which this year was dedicated to
the 80 years of Pininfarina and the 100 years of Alfa
Romeo.
This new vehicle is one outcome of the pioneering decision taken by Pininfarina three
years ago, to focus on sustainable mobility, approaching it from various angles:
not only the adoption of a hybrid or electric drivelines, but also research
focusing on reducing consumption and “wheel to wheel” emissions, the use of
alternative materials that are lighter and recyclable, active and passive
safety, and IT, which will have to combine the sustainable use of means of
transport with intelligent traffic management. The exterior design of the new Nido EV
takes up and updates the lines and volumes of the concept of the same name that
in 2004 won the award
for the Most Beautiful Car in the World in the Prototypes and Concept
Cars category, the Compasso d’Oro 2008 and a place in the temple of
modern art, the MoMA of New York. On the other hand, the interiors of this first
Nido EV project are still those of a technical prototype, with no attempt at
stylistic research. The Nido EV prototype is a veritable laboratory designed both to explore
the electrification of a small city car and to develop a modular floorpan. The
body structure of this first prototype is a tubular steel frame, while the final
version will have an aluminium space frame. The structure was designed to adapt
to four different, completely electric or hybrid vehicles: 2-seater, 2+2, pickup
and light van.The
Nido EV was not the only car in Rome to represent the
values that Pininfarina has based its success on,
unchanged from the thirties to the present: the
centrality of design, aesthetic sense that can create
timeless beauty, a constant innovation, the strength of
a tradition that combines industry, technology and
design research. In the gardens of the Quirinale was
also displayed the firm's newest concept car,
2uettottanta, a 2-seater spider based on Alfa Romeo
mechanicals that was made to celebrate the 80th
anniversary and, at the same time, to pay homage to the
centenary of Alfa Romeo, and Florida II considered a
design milestone: this 4-seater coupé was realised in
1957 in a single unit and was the personal car of the
Founder Battista "Pinin" Farina. Florida II, along with
masterpieces such as the Cisitalia 202 and the Lancia
Aurelia B24, is part of the recently inaugurated
Pininfarina Collection based in Cambiano.
Many of the historic cars selected by the Organizing Committee of Bovet
Italia Classica 2010 were also masterpieces of the past designed by
Pininfarina for brands like Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Lancia. During the
ceremony at the Quirinale Paolo Pininfarina delivered to President Napolitano
the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Presidential Lancia Flaminia, another
milestone designed by Pininfarina, which is still today in active service as the
oldest State parade car in the world. Sponsors of the event, the Swiss
watchmaker Bovet, presented the Tourbillon Eighties, the
chronograph designed by Pininfarina and realised in just
80 pieces.
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