No, not really. But the new Lamborghini Terzo Millennio design concept does look like a modern Batmobile, doesn’t it? This was created in collaboration with two laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: the Dinca Research Lab led by Professor Mircea Dinca of the Department of Chemistry, and the Mechanosynthesis Group led by Professor Anastasios John Hart of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Yep, even the names of the people involved in the project sound like the product of a Hollywood scriptwriter’s imagination.

The collaboration, funded by Lamborghini, aims to explore further innovations in energy storage systems technology and material science. Which means the Italian carmaker is already pursuing its vision of building an electric super sports car in the future.

Stefano Domenicali, that erstwhile Ferrari F1 dude who is now the CEO of Lamborghini, is quoted in the press statement as saying:

Exactly one year ago, we signed an agreement with the MIT-Italy Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which marked the start of a collaboration between two outstanding entities for the creation of a project that intends to write an important page in the future of super sports cars for the third millennium. Collaborating with MIT for our R&D department is an exceptional opportunity to do what Lamborghini has always been very good at—rewriting the rules on super sports cars. Now we are presenting an exciting and progressive concept car. We are inspired by embracing what is impossible today to craft the realities of tomorrow. Lamborghini must always create the dreams of the next generation.

But ignore that boring quote. Below is a more interesting one—something that made us truly suspect Lamborghini is being commissioned by Bruce Wayne to design the next Batmobile:

The project also aims to combine the technology to continuously monitor the whole carbon-fiber structure, both visible and invisible, with the concept of “self-healing.” The target is to provide the Terzo Millennio with the ability to conduct its own health-monitoring to detect cracks and damages in its substructure derived from accidents.  In this case, a self-repairing process starts via micro-channels filled with healing chemistries, reducing to zero the risks of small cracks propagating further in the carbon-fiber structure. This allows further weight reduction with increased use of carbon fiber or the application of CFK to high-fatigue parts.

We guess a self-healing car is important because the Joker and the Penguin are always looking for ways to harm Batman on the road.

But seriously, this is just a design study for Lamborghini. It’s a long, long way from the assembly floor—assuming it eventually gets approved for production. And how farther down the road is this concept car? Well, the literal translation of “terzo millennio” is “third millennium.” So you can be sure it’s not happening in the next five years.

Do we like it? Sure, why not? This makes saving the world look cool. Though it probably still won’t outrun the Flash.