Can an All Electric Ferrari really be a Ferrari?

"Aerodynamics are for people who cant build engines". Ok perhaps not quite relevant today but it does underscore how much the sound of the engine brings to the overall Ferrari experience.

Would it a Ferrari really be a Ferrari if it didn't have an engine but rather had electric motors? For me it wouldn't, you can go as fast as you like but sound gives the impression of speed, you can corner as fast as yo want but again the engine is part of the experience.

 

I've thought long and hard on this and I've come to this conclusion:

What made Ferrari was/ and should always be/ racing success. The sound of their engine roaring is the sound of winning.

Now we are moving into a new age. Ferrari needs to find success in racing electric powered vehicles. If it does so, then the sound will be different, and it will be a hard adjustment for some of us (myself included).

The key thing here is racing success. If they are successful in electric racing so they capture the minds and hearts of the youth, then the whir of the electric power unit will become the sound of success, and the glorious ICE will have the successful sound of the past. But it will be the past.

 

Times change. Ferrari has to evolve or perish. As long as they make a beautiful, elegant all-electric that can slaughter the competition, I'm okay with it.

The next owner of my 360 stick will buy it from my estate, though.

 

I owe an apology to a poster here 2 years ago that argued Ferrari will make an electric car. I piled on and told him bullocks. If Ferrari wants to be competitive in the next ultra car wars; they have to go electric. Pretty simple as that.

 

No.

 

I guess it's hard to say. However...it seems like Ferrari will not have a choice.

Either Ferrari's will have electric engines OR there will be no more Ferrari's made in the future.

And in my opinion, a future with electric Ferrari's is better than a future with no Ferrari's.

-F

 

Next Hyper Ferrari is 5 - 6 years away Plus the regular production cars will be hybrid for at least a decade
before everything goes Electric. Question is will they intro fake engine noise ? Maybe you can choose
from your favorite classic or an F1 Ferrari - say F2003-GA

 

No, no, and no.

 

Taking the long view, it's pretty obvious. Will there be a Ferrari company in 50-100 years? Probably. What do you think they'll be making? Gasoline-powered cars? Probably not.

 

Negative ion propulsion cars?

 

In a future world of all electric cars wouldn’t an ICE Ferrari be even more exotic? More desirable?

Unless they make ICE illegal I would hope we could rely on Ferrari to fill their own niche. Even if it’s just track focused cars it would be better than all electric IMO.

 

They need to stick to their roots. It's what separated them from the rest. This move is making them conformists and no longer unique and desirable. It's just a different case around the same battery as the other car.

 

Would be nice..but ferrari would cease to exit.

 

Honestly, there's been a few brands talking about going all electric that I've been curious about.
Ferrari I view as either sporty GT, or straight-up sports cars. For those, it's about performance and design that matters. Yes, I love the sound my F430 makes (Capristo <3) but honestly it's the way the car drives and turns and feels like it's damned near on rails that makes me truly love it.

Maserati going full electric concerns me more... they're so about the sound more-so than Ferrari I think...

 

Here is the problem as I see it.

Every car builder will be basiclly building the same car. Any car will and electric motor will be capable of blistering acceleration. Either it be a Ford or ferrari. It's all in how they set the car up.

It will boil down to style. And using electric motors eliminates massive packaging issues, and opens the door for some seriously killer designs.

Ferrari and the other exotic companies will really have to hit the design out of the park to even remotely justify the cost differences in the future. No longer can you use an ICE as a selling point. The car must be hugely different in order to be unique like ferrari is today.

Exotic car companies are really going to have to step up the game. Interesting times.

 

depends on how they do it.
for example if they made a series-hybrid, that can be run in all-electric mode when needed, and then out on the highway can run with batteries AND ICE unti helping along, compounding the bhp, (lets say up to 1000bhp and 1000 lb/ft of torque), then they would have a killer car.

 

What separates an electric Ferrari from an electric Mustang? The angle of the horse?

Battery + motor for each wheel + computer = fast. Regardless of the brand. When they all run and sound the same, I think the idea of exclusivity vanishes.

So the all-electric Ferrari is the beginning of the end of Ferrari as a car company. It may still remain as a marketing and licensing entity.

 

Acura with the NSX has already done that. Drive one if you get the chance. It blew my mind. The mix of the 2 different power sources was a real eye opener in regards to the performance levels all us old guys are missing or refuse to acknowledge.

 

i have a fisker, it uses this tech, and i do know what it can do.
when the batteries and ice unit are working together i suddenly haev 402 bhp, and 959 lb/ft of torque.
so yes, the combo is an eye opener and could be the way ferrari segues into the new era

 

For sure. Yet every other car company will do the same thing. Honda does it already and a few others. We will see what mercedes has to offer next year along with audi. It will be a very difficult market to be over the top unique in. Ferrari will have to be well over the top to justify it's price point along with all the rest of the exotic manufacturers.

 

well yes and no.
ferrari will likely come up with some technical aspect that may be slightly more performant or efficient.
but the difference will have to be in the design.

take a 458 looking car, make it a series hybrid, and you will always beat a honda.

 

I think the justification for the pricing for Ferrari will come with the application of exotic and expensive lightweight materials. Electric motors are not all carbon copies - pun alert! - of each other. Super light carbon ceramic components won't be found in a Kia.