Bugatti Sells All 250 Tourbillons as Rimac Backs Combustion

Bugatti Rimac says the entire 250-car production run of the Bugatti Tourbillon has sold out, despite a $4.5 million base price and one of the most complex powertrains planned for a road car. The result gives chief executive Mate Rimac a leading figure in electric hypercars tangible support for his view that combustion engines can persist in elite cars. But the Tourbillon is not evidence of combustion succeeding alone: its 16-cylinder engine depends on three electric motors to deliver the car’s stated performance.

Reported on August 31, the sellout covers every Tourbillon that Bugatti plans to hand-assemble in Molsheim, France. Production and global customer deliveries are set to begin in 2026. At this scale and price, the result measures demand among a small collector market rather than forecasting the direction of mainstream passenger vehicles.

That boundary is central to Rimac’s argument. He expects the vast majority of ordinary cars to become electric, while upper-segment sports cars retain combustion for much longer. He compared expensive engine-powered cars with Swiss mechanical watches: less practical than digital alternatives in certain respects, but desirable because their mechanisms, craftsmanship and exclusivity are part of the product.

Electric power makes the large engine workable

The Tourbillon combines a mid-mounted, naturally aspirated 8.3-liter V16 developed with Cosworth and three electric motors. The engine produces 1,000 horsepower and revs to 9,000 rpm, while the electric system contributes another 800 horsepower. Bugatti states a combined output of 1,800 horsepower, or 1,324 kilowatts, with power managed through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive.

Two motors are packaged into the front electric axle, while a third sits at the rear. This arrangement is more than an effort to inflate the total power figure. A naturally aspirated engine generally needs engine speed and transmission downshifts to reach its strongest operating range. The electric motors can respond immediately, filling the gap while the V16 builds speed. Bugatti describes electrification as an enabler for the engine rather than its replacement.

The 25-kilowatt-hour, 800-volt battery also gives the Tourbillon a stated electric-only range of more than 60 kilometers. Bugatti lists acceleration from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in two seconds and a 445-kilometer-per-hour top speed. Those figures remain manufacturer claims, but they illustrate why control integration matters: three motors, an engine, a dual-clutch gearbox, torque distribution and battery limits must operate as one coordinated propulsion system.

Packaging that hardware without allowing mass to grow unchecked was another major constraint. Bugatti says the V16 weighs 252 kilograms and that the engine, rear motor and transmission assembly weighs 430 kilograms matching the weight of the Chiron’s engine alone. The company also says the complete Tourbillon weighs less than the Chiron despite adding a substantial battery and electric drive system. The battery casing forms part of the carbon-composite structure, while 3D-printed suspension components are stated to be 45% lighter than the previous parts.

Speed alone is no longer the differentiator

Rimac’s battery-electric Nevera shows the competing approach. It uses four motors and is rated at 1,914 horsepower and 2,360 newton-meters of torque, exceeding the Tourbillon’s stated power output without a combustion engine. That comparison supports Rimac’s contention that extreme acceleration is becoming less distinctive as electric propulsion makes high output and rapid torque response more accessible.

Bugatti has therefore made mechanical complexity part of the Tourbillon’s identity. Its analog instrument cluster contains more than 600 components made with materials including titanium, sapphire and ruby. A digital display remains available but retracts when it is not needed. The same philosophy extends below the cabin: buyers are effectively paying for the difficult integration of combustion character, electric response, lightweight structures and visible craftsmanship.

The sellout confirms that 250 customers accepted that proposition. It does not establish a broad combustion revival, nor does it challenge Rimac’s expectation that mainstream transportation will become predominantly electric. It instead defines a narrow operating boundary for combustion’s possible survival: exceptionally expensive, low-volume cars in which the engine is treated as an engineered experience and where electrification helps it meet modern performance expectations.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.