Electric Avenues

New plug-in hybrids from Ferrari and Lamborghini prove transformational benchmarks. Plus, what Formula E teaches us about the future.

- Basem Wasef, Sean Evans and Viju Mathew

2024XXS AND OHS

Ferrari SF90 XX

EVER SINCE 2013, when Ferrari’s LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder became literal poster cars for plug-in-hybrid power trains, the set-up has been the de facto choice of high-performance automakers looking to squeeze as much juice as possible from the unlikely combination of silly speed and serious efficiency.

Maranello’s latest twists on this are the SF90 XX Stradale and Spider, limited-production offshoots of the SF90 (which debuted in 2019) that tip a hat to the marque’s ultra-exclusive XX race programme for clients, yielding track-only screamers such as the 599XX EVO and FXX-K EVO. Now, for the first time, the XX nomenclature is on street-legal releases.

Compared to the original SF90, the new variants eke out another 30hp from the hybrid architecture, bringing total output for each to 1,016hp from the four-litre twin-turbocharged V8 and three electric motors, which are fed by a 7.9kWh battery. The result is acceleration from zero to 100km/h in just over 2.0 seconds and a top speed of 320km/h. The incremental power gain is augmented by a louder, more insistent exhaust note, more aggressive transmission programming, and additional cooling via the reconfigured front-mounted radiators jettisoning air through two hood-mounted vents.