Italian luxury car manufacturer Maserati has announced a range of electric cars called Folgore, including the new generation GranTurismo, an electric version of the Levante, the all-new Grecale, and several other luxury sports cars and convertibles.
The company said it will offer electric versions of all its models by 2025. It will also switch to electric vehicle sales only by 2030.
The company’s CEO, David Grasso, noted that the automaker also aims to phase out sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030. But that depends on individual markets and customer requirements.
With this timeline in mind, Maserati claims to be the first luxury brand to complete its electric range by 2025.
Other luxury sports car companies, such as Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini, have announced their electrification plans.
And Porsche released its first model with the Taycan. But the transition to electrification has been relatively slow among luxury car makers. Most of those companies still focus on V8 and V12 engines.
The company has been fumbling about making an electric car for a while. This is likely due to the careless attitude of its parent company, Fiat Chrysler (now Stellantis), which largely ignored electric cars in the Sergio Marchionne era.
Maserati changed course in 2019, announcing a range of electric models, including battery-powered versions of the GranTurismo and GranCabriolet, as well as an electric sports car and an unnamed electric SUV. Last year Maserati also announced a hybrid version of the Ghibli, which is only sold in Europe.
These plans are now more focused. The GranTurismo will be the first electric vehicle to arrive from the Folgore family of products.
Electric GranTurismo is produced at the company’s Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, which recently received a €700 million (about US $807 million) upgrade to prepare it for electric vehicle production.
GranTurismo, which uses powertrain technology derived from Formula E, will go on sale in 2023.
Maserati commits to electrifying by 2030
The electric GranTurismo has more than 1,200 horsepower from three electric motors. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just over two seconds with a top speed of 300 km/h.
The car is being manufactured from lightweight materials to enhance its speed. Maserati will unveil a new electric car, the Grecale, later this month. The car is expected to go on sale in 2023.
The global head of product planning said Grecale is a benchmark in terms of range, performance, acceleration, charge time and top speed.
The rest of the Folgore range is filling up in the coming months, including the MC20 Spyder, the Quattroporte and an electric version of the Levante.
Maserati has to cope with the loss of engine sounds, one of its main characteristics, as it switches to electric cars.
Some automakers have added artificial sounds to explain the absence of the internal combustion engine. But Maserati said it would not follow the same path.
The company also confirmed plans to develop Level 3 autonomous driving technology for the Quattroporte. This means that the car is able to drive itself along certain roads without human supervision.
The company’s CEO described the switch to electric as a defining moment for the more than a century-old automaker.
Maserati did not disclose the expected prices of the new electric cars. Their current conventional models range from about $78,000 to more than $200,000.
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