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This is not a Prius: Lamborghini made a plug-in hybrid with 910 horsepower

The phrases "plug-in hybrid" and "bone-crushing power" don't typically go together, but Lamborghini's Asterion — which just broke cover at the Paris Motor Show — is doing its best to put them in the same sentence.

The car's full name is actually Asterion LPI 910-4: LPI stands for "longitudinale posteriore ibrido," a reference to the location of the 610-horsepower V10 and the hybrid drivetrain. 910-4 refers to the all-wheel-drive configuration and the 910 total horsepower, 300 of which comes from the electric motors. The car can either operate with the full 910 horses in action, or in a pure electric mode which delivers power to motors mounted in the front axle alone. 62mph comes in three seconds, and top speed is just shy of 200mph.

Hybrids are still relatively rare in the performance segment, although they're gaining acceptance: Ferrari's LaFerrari and McLaren's P1 have both climbed on the hybrid train. What makes Lamborghini unique with the Asterion is how hard it's pushing the environmental angle: carbon dioxide emission reduction is prominently mentioned in the car's press release, and it touts a pure-electric driving range of 50km (31 miles). It may not see production in exactly this form, but it's hard to imagine the company would put this much thought and effort into a next-gen drivetrain without commercializing it.

As with all Lamborghinis, the Asterion has a bull-themed name: in this case, it's "the proper name of the mythical Minotaur," the company says — half-man, half-bull. Hybrid, get it?

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