Maserati GranTurismo teaser
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► Electric replacement for GranTurismo coming► 800-volt architecture promises fast charging
► Potential petrol-powered variant with MC20’s V6
Maserati has already embarked on its grand electrification plan which, at least on the face of it, will make the company a more well-rounded alternative to brands such as Porsche and Audi. Sitting near the top of the manufacturer’s freshly electrified range will be this – the next-generation version of the GranTurismo.
Maserati’s next GranTurismo will break cover in 2023 alongside the new Grecale SUV – and the company has already confirmed that it’ll be available with a fully electric powertrain. That decision means it’ll become a more focussed rival for the likes of the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT and Tesla Model S.
Unusually, Maserati has been quite candid with its plans. The company has been teasing the next GranTurismo for months now, circulating official images of camouflaged prototypes – which has certainly saved our spy photographers a job. It’s also provided us with a good idea of the new car’s styling ahead of its launch date.
The new GranTurismo’s design is an evolution of the previous model’s, sharing the classic long nose, short tail GT car shape. Its headlight shape and lumpy bonnet have been lifted from the MC20 supercar, but its wide front grille remains faithful to the old car.
So, you must know everything about the powertrains, too?
You would hope – but sadly not. Despite being so open about the GranTurmiso’s design, Maserati hasn’t issued many details about the car’s electric powertrain. For now, the brand has only hinted that the system will have “more than 50 percent more power” than the old V8-engined model, which would place its power output around the 680bhp mark.
Next year will also see Maserati re-enter the world of racing after a 13-year hiatus, with the company recently securing a place on the 2023 Formula E grid. The brand plans to use the R&D from its racing programme to benefit the GranTurismo, claiming the car will “offer cutting-edge technical solutions” derived from its race car.
We haven’t yet been told anything about the car’s battery capacity – but, given its GT car brief, we’re expecting it to be quite large. The GranTurismo’s main rivals can cover around 300 miles on a single charge, which Maserati will have to match if it wants to be competitive.
However, Maserati has confirmed that the car will have an 800-volt electrical system, which promises ultra-fast charging speeds. Porsche uses a similar setup in the Taycan, and that car can take on 62 miles of range every five minutes when connected to a 270kW DC rapid charger. That works out as an 80 percent charge in just 20 minutes.
There are also some conventional spy shots of GranTurismo prototypes on the net which have exhaust tips poking out of their rear bumpers, suggesting Maserati isn’t ready to abandon combustion power just yet. However, we expect the old model’s 3.8-litre V8 engine won’t make it through another round of European emissions regulations.
So, Maserati could easily pinch the 3.0-litre V6 engine from the rear of the MC20 and drop it into the nose of the new GranTurismo, giving the next car improved performance and lower emissions in one fell swoop. When it’s bolted into the supercar, the engine has a maximum output of 621bhp and 538lb/ft of torque, although that’ll probably be reduced for the GT to create some distance between the two sports cars.
Hold fire. Weren’t we promised a new GranTurismo in 2018?
Maybe. But Maserati is still hoping you’d forgotten about that. In fact, this new model was supposed to break cover in 2020, but several issues (including the coronavirus pandemic and the merger of FCA and PSA into the Stellantis supergroup) conspired against Maserati and delayed the project again. Just be thankful it’s happening at all.
The notion of a new GranTurismo was first floated back in 2014 with the Alfieri concept, but the project has been steadily evolving since then to take factors such as electrification into account. Maserati even toyed with the idea of giving its new sports coupe a plug-in hybrid powertrain, as shown by the official slide below.
Keyword: Next-generation Maserati GranTurismo