Finally... An EV worthy of your bedroom wall

Ferrari's new Elettrica could be the car that gets dyed-in-the-wool petrolheads to long for an EV. It could also be the car that reshapes the entire EV landscape

- by QUENTIN WILLSON

Here's the new Ferrari EV.” Five words I never imagined saying. And as I delivered my piece-to-camera at the famous Maranello factory in Modena, Italy, I felt a frisson of history being made. Because this is a very big deal. The world's most admired automotive brand has been conspicuously absent for over a decade of battery-only EV industry transition. It just carried on doing what it's always done: building loud, wailing V12, V8 and V6 combustion engines. So, when the Prancing Horse suddenly changes strategic direction, the world sits up and takes notice. The announcement of the Elettrica is a defining moment in Ferrari's history.

A FERRARI, BUT ELECTRIC

For those at the back shouting 'Sacrilege! I'll never buy one!' Remember Enzo Ferrari's oft-repeated mantra: 'innovate, innovate, innovate.' As Ferrari's founder, he knew that pushing the brand's mechanical and technological envelope meant that his scarlet cars would win races and inhabit the posh, climate-controlled garages where serious money keeps its toys. Current CEO, Benedetto Vigna, told me there had been such major innovation in the Elettrica that “you have to show, step-by-step, what's in the car.”

And while I was only shown the chassis, batteries, motors, axles and suspension – the complete car will be unveiled in 2026 – we do know it's a four-seater with four doors, like Ferrari's existing Purosangue, but won't be a supercar (current battery tech isn't reckoned to be good enough).