In a wide-ranging presentation that saw CEO Davide Grasso claim that Maserati will be the first top-level luxury automaker to offer a fully-electric version of every one of its products by 2025; and discontinue sales of internal-combustion engines completely by 2030, it was revealed the company’s new direction is taking a decidedly Tesla-challenging turn with the introduction of the GranTurismo Folgore.
Folgore — “thunderbolt” in Italian — is Maserati’s branding for its upcoming BEV lineup and, while the first product from that range will be the battery-powered version of the upcoming Grecale compact luxury-ute, all eyes are truly on the GranTurismo coupe, also available in 2023.
Blessed with three electric motors — two in the rear and one up front, for true all-wheel-drive — the GranTurismo’s 1,200 horsepower is said to be good for a low 2.0-second sprint to 100 kilometres an hour, and a top speed of over 300 kilometres an hour. Considering that Maserati is also planning to electrify its recently-introduced MC20 super car, the potential for truly outrageous speeds seems, well, truly ludicrous.
The GT will boast, Maserati claims, inverters patterned after those used in Formula E racers, as well as the lowest centre of gravity of any production sports car. Maserati is also promising to one-up Tesla’s charging speed with an 800V architecture — the same as on the fast-charging Porsche Taycan — spreading throughout its lineup.
That electric lineup will include the aforementioned Grecale and GranTurismo, as well as a GranCabrio convertible by 2023 and battery-powered versions of the MC20, Quattroporte, and a new Levante by 2025. Eagle eyes will note that there’s no mention of the Ghibli sedan in that lineup, Grasso saying the entry-level sedan will disappear after this production cycle because one sedan offering is enough in an SUV-dominated marketplace.
That said, it is the phenomenal success of the Ghibli’s new hybrid powertrain that is giving Maserati such confidence in its plans for electrification. Marrying a 2.0L Alfa Romeo-sourced turbocharged four to a 48V belt-alternator-starter mild hybrid system, the 330-hp Hybrid now accounts for fully two-thirds of Ghibli sales — still the second-most-prolific model in Maser’s lineup after the Levante SUV — in Europe. With half of Levantes now powered by the same powertrain, the company is convinced that electrification is its long-term future.
The 2022 Maserati MC20’s Nettuno engine Photo by Maserati
That said, all the current redesigns will feature ICE offerings, many based on the “Nettuno” turbocharged V6 that powers the MC20 supercar. It is worth noting that, according to Grasso, both ICE and EV versions will be based on the same platform. Traditionally, maximizing EV performance has required a unique “skateboard” chassis architecture not easily adapted to ICE propulsion. Maserati says it has found a way to build both powertrains into the same platform without compromise, but hasn’t specified how.
Nonetheless, this is a company brimming with confidence. Though its worldwide sales of 24,269 are barely two weeks’ worth of Toyota RAV4 production, that is an improvement of 41 per cent compared with last year, almost seven times the segment average. More importantly, Maserati’s share of the über-luxury segment is up dramatically to 2.4 percent, mostly on the back of Ghibli and Levante, which are up a combined 45 per cent.
Nonetheless, the big news is the company’s newly-minted quick-step towards electrification. If the new GranTurismo really does boast 1,200 hp — and the handling to match! — Maserati may finally be on its way to being more than a bit player in the luxury segment.
Keyword: Motor Mouth: Maserati coming for Tesla’s king-of-EVs crown