Ferrari is arguably the most prestigious car manufacturer in the world. The Prancing Horse is synonymous with performance thanks to decades of history forged in grand prix glory and road car triumphs. However, Ferrari’s timeline is about to significantly change with the introduction of its first EV in 2025. The big question is, what will it be?
There’s a lot of change afoot for Ferrari over the next few years, especially with the introduction of its first SUV – that will likely become its biggest seller overnight – but how it handles electrification is a much trickier image problem. Hybridisation was introduced in a mild form with LaFerrari, but more prominently with its SF90, and a total EV Ferrari has several hurdles to overcome. Aside from of the passionate cliches about combustion being the beating heart of the Italian firm, this car will have to provide some serious punch to justify its scuderia shields.
It’s not that Ferrari aren’t capable of producing an incredible all-electric performance car, but is the technology ready? Ferrari buyers are used to filling up and making noise, two things that will be absent from the new model. Will buyers be willing to charge their Ferrari and then quickly see the range fall when the car is driven hard? Ferrari must have some serious battery tech up its sleeve if it’s going to pull this off. McLaren have proven hesitant to follow suit, instead aiming to incorporate synthetic fuels to keep its supercars green for now.
So, that brings us back to the question of what form this new Ferrari will take. The obvious answer would be some sort of technological showcase, produced in limited numbers and looking every inch a hypercar of the future. That said, a 2,000bhp EV capable of lapping a test track faster than anything that came before is great until you realise it will only do 5 laps at that pace. Ferrari could attempt to deliver on a mid-level car that’s a bit more ‘mainstream’, but this might begin to butt heads with whatever replaces the F8 Tributo. Could the Italian marque’s first EV be an SUV?
EV tech for things like SUVs is actually quite advanced, just look at the Tesla Model X and Audi e-Tron. While expected to be a serious performance tool, a Ferrari SUV doesn’t have the same outright pace expectation as one of its supercars – this would take the pressure off the batteries. A couple of hundred mile range is easily feasible, while offering the same whip-crack 0-60 dash we’ve seen from other electric SUVs.
We’ll have to wait for 2025 to know for sure, but we’d bet the Ferrari Purosangue SUV might have an all-electric powertrain as an option.
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Keyword: Will Ferrari’s first electric car be an SUV?