Ferrari is preparing to launch its first electric car with a price tag of more than €500,000 (£422,000).
The luxury Italian brand, best known for making petrol
sports cars with roaring engines, is preparing to launch the new model next
year.
It will be one of the most expensive in the marque’s
line-up, with the headline price tag not including extras that can add up to
20pc to the final cost, according to Reuters.
That would easily put it towards the top end of the
carmaker’s current offering, reflecting the higher costs of making
battery-powered EVs.
The average sale price of a new Ferrari is currently around
€350,000.
The SF90 Spider is the most expensive of the existing retail
models at around $575,000 (£452,000), while the special series SF90XX Stradale
and SF90XX Spider cost even more at $844,000 and $932,000 respectively.
Ferrari is said to be working on a second electric model as
well.
The move will be seen as a vote of confidence in the luxury
electric vehicle (EV) market, at a time when other brands such as Porsche and
Aston Martin have sounded a note of caution about customer enthusiasm for
electric cars.
Lawrence Stroll, Aston’s billionaire owner and chairman, has
previously warned that many drivers still wanted “the sports car smell and feel
and noise”.
In an attempt to replicate the “driving pleasure” of petrol
cars, Ferrari has patented technology that will preserve the signature roar of
its engines even after electrification.
The technology will amplify sounds from the electric motor
and drivetrain, adjusting the note and volume to correlate with the power being
delivered, according to filings made last year.
By the end of this decade, the carmaker has said it wants
electric vehicles (EVs) to account for 40pc of its line-up.
Ferrari plans EV factory
It comes as Ferrari is preparing to open a factory that will
make its first electric models.
The site will be in the brand’s Italian home town of
Maranello, in Emilia-Romagna, and will also make petrol and hybrid cars.
It is expected to boost the company’s annual production
capacity to 20,000 cars, compared to under 14,000 cars last year.
A source told Reuters It was expected to open within three
to four months, slightly behind schedule from an originally planned opening
date this month.
Rival Lamborghini is preparing to put its first EV on sale
in 2028.
Ferrari’s first EV, though pricey compared to mass-market
models, is by no means set to be the most expensive electric car yet.
Japanese engineering firm Aspark is developing the Aspark
Owl hypercar, which will cost $3.5m and has a top speed of 272 miles per hour.
The Lotus Evija also costs more than £2m, while Croatia’s Rimac Nevera starts at €2m.