First 100% electric Ferrari in 2025 - confirmed

What’s the name and number of the podcast? (Can’t see it without signing up for a subscription on the iPhone)

 

It’s Macro Voices podcast # 478. I didn’t have to sign up just used the Apple podcast App. An interesting podcast channel.

 

Listened to it on Spotify while stuck in the passport office.

This is a good discussion, fully agree the US should be doing more nuclear. I haven’t followed nuclear closely, but never understood why it was being ramped down. Nuclear is pretty clean and has proven to be safe (especially with post-Fukushima fail-safe reactors).

I think Musk was recently talking about building small nuclear for anAI data center, but haven’t followed whether he’s actually trying to move forward with that.

 

Probably going off script but nuclear has a few powerful things going against it, in no particular order and I am hardly an expert but Ive always been interested in why we dont have more nuclear power.

Big Oil has traditionally pushed against anything thats not big oil

NIMBY issues- people think nuclear power plants can end up in a mushroom cloud- not true, but they think it can. Ask the average person how many people die every year due to nuclear power generation vs others and they will say it's a ton, but the reality is the opposite.

Traditional Nuclear power plants are much more expensive and time consuming to build than the other energy sources. This is changing with the new modular reactors. Also the regulations around nuclear are far more onerous than the others.

The politicians and green new deal types all think nuclear is some how a dirty power source.

I've always thought nuclear makes sense for us to have as part of our national power mix.

Im hoping they decide to show us the Ferrari EV as a design study and nothing more, leave the electrons for other things and leave the dino juice for the V12s!

 

I own both, and it's pretty obvious which path makes more sense for the vast majority of people who aren’t enthusiasts. For folks like us—fossils clinging to ICE—let’s be real: even today’s cars already outperform what most of us can handle, track or no track. So the real question isn’t 2035—it’s what the world looks like after.

If you're genuinely worried about buying the last internal combustion car off the line in the EU—no niche exemptions, nothing special—ask yourself: is that really your hill to die on?

And for those already preemptively grieving the lack of ICE options in 2040, when it's time to offload the Ferrari you scooped up in 2035... respectfully, you may be playing the long game a bit too hard.

Meanwhile, China’s out there quietly getting it right. We're over here reenacting the '70s in slow motion while the rest of the world moves on—and by the time we get our act together, China’s already penciled in the win.

 

I'll die on the ICE hill. Zero interest in an EV. They make sense for commuter cars. I've never owned a commuter car and don't plan to.

 

Agreed. When ICE is banned I might contact me local representatives, God knows I’ll have plenty of time on my hands in my nursing home.

 

https://www.carscoops.com/2025/06/ferrari-just-delayed-its-second-ev-because-rich-people-cant-kick-their-combustion-habit/

"Ferrari has only confirmed that it’s working on one EV, but Reuters claims that first car, co-designed by former Apple design boss Jony Ive, is merely a “symbolic milestone” model to introduce us to the idea of an electric Ferrari and will be built in small numbers. The report describes the EV as costing over $500,000 and being “larger than normal” but definitely not an SUV."

Over $500k for an EV that's being tested on the Maserati Levante platform - but is not an SUV. While we're all free to spend our money on whatever we like, I can't help but but laugh.

 

I'm in the (minority) camp that I'd be happy to see Ferrari produce an EV worthy of the brand, but a "larger than normal" car that is not an SUV is definitely not what I had in mind.

Although I have huge respect for Steve Jobs and the iPhone he created, I'm not really a fan of Ives influence on Apple post-iPhone and post-Jobs. Of course, my view of Ives value is from a distance, so I could be dead wrong.

 

That's a contradiction in terms.

Better that than an SUV. But also moot since it's an EV.

His involvement does not lend credibility to the project.

 

Sounds like they're coming to terms with the demand reality.

 

Strongly disagree. There's nothing wrong with EVs in principle.

The problem is that we are being forced/pushed/nudged to get them instead of conventional vehicles.

 

If the topic was hybrids, I'd agree with you.

On EVs, I don't. They make great commuter cars. But they're clinical. They lack the soul that a Ferrari must possess to be worthy of carrying the badge.

There's a reason demand for performance EVs has been so tepid, and why all the manufacturers - now Ferrari included, apparently - are paring back their performance EV ambitions.

 

I'm not sure what exactly that "soul [is] that a Ferrari must possess to be worthy of carrying the badge", but I am fairly confident that I'd find more of it in the Volkswagen I.D. R than in a Purosangue or Lusso.

 

I get the unlimited range advantage, but Hybrids are kind of the worst of both worlds in my opinion because the you have the complexity and weight issues associated with having battery + electric motors + ICE engine. Modern Ferraris are already (over)complicated enough, I couldn't possibly have less interest in having both battery and ICE maintenance issues.

Teslas cars perform extremely well (even on track because of the low center of gravity) and they aren't even designed as performance cars. It won't make all the proper noises (which I would miss in a sports car but not necessarily a daily driver), but Ferrari could build a hell of an EV (though it doesn't sound like that's what they are doing ).

 

Tesla makes its own batteries.

There is no reason for Ferrari to do this unless they want to lose billions. Imagine owning a low mileage Ferrari EV that is 10 years old and needs a new battery. My guess is that new battery for your Ferrari EV will clock in at a $200k since you paid $500k for the original car. Why? Because the Italians are not known for their battery tech which means someone else is building it for them who may or may not be around in 10 years. You can't keep the batteries "one the shelf" so when you need the battery.....in true Ferrari fashion....they will make one for you and ship it to where you are so that a certified Ferrari dealer can install it.

Lord help you if it gets into an accident that damages a battery cell. It will make the 355 fuel line problem look like a minor event.

 

ID R will be fast. For me, that's only part of the experience.

 

I'd argue that hybrids can be the best of both worlds - you get the torque of the electric motor while retaining some of the character of the ICE. If forced to choose, I'd prefer ICE-only over hybrid. But a 296 has a place in my garage.

 

Tesla buys and bought the majority of their cells from Panasonic, LG & CATL.

Replacing the battery pack is probably not economically viable in most cases. Availability might suck as well, no matter if it is a mass product (e.g. Tesla) or something more exclusive.

 

I get that, the power boost is great and they've managed to keep the 296 pretty lightweight.

Most of the hybrids in typical passenger cars are a waste -- don't really get that much better mileage -- I think because the added weight of having both ICE and battery/motor negates the regenerative benefit on braking. The purpose-built Prius was efficient enough to be worth it mileage-wise if you can stand the car. But, among "regular" cars that you'd actually want to own, that are available both as hybrid or ICE, I'd argue ICE is the better choice over Hybrid virtually every time.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from Ferrari, price-wise, I do like the concept of the Alfa Romeo Tonale -- which is a plug-in hybrid that only has about 30 miles range on electric only. The small battery manages to keep the SUV relatively light, and the electric boost does add a lot of on-demand power. With 30 miles EV, I could probably use it as an EV most days, but have unlimited range when needed.

When it comes time to replace our daily driver Macan, I'll probably check out the Tonale. Most of the reviews are very positive about being great to drive. Some complain about the dual marketing as a Dodge Hornet, but I think it's more Dodge using an Italian foundation than the other way around. I haven't yet gotten a feel for Tonale reliability - the Stelvio and the Giulia have been reliable, but not sure if Alfa's first hybrid effort with the Tonale will be the same.

 

My verdict:

Overly complicated for very little benefit. These things are going to be a nightmare for future owners. 10, 15 years ago an average guy could have bought a low mileage 308 for $35 grand. Maybe a 3rd or 4th owner car. Easy to maintain. Parts easily available. Great starter Ferrari.

20 years from now we will look at hybrids and 2nd and 3rd hand owners will avoid them. That's a pity for those looking for an entry level car.

When we get the Fchat threads about how owner's are having problems with their hybrid and dealers quote $20-30 grand to start and want to find a way around it, we'll start to see the problem we've created today.

I don't worry about today. Future sports car ownership will mean a lot of cars parked when fixing them is out of reach for their owners, along with obsolete exotic batteries, electronics, sensors, reverse braking generators, and electric motor systems

So its good for one world, but terrible for the future world.

 

I agree with this, but really think it applies to all modern supercars (hybrid or not). They all have many ECU's and many proprietary complex parts, but are low enough in production that it won't make sense for the aftermarket to recreate these chips/boards/parts in the future when they are no longer available from the factory. I hope I'm wrong (maybe AI parts/ECU replication will become a thing in the future), but it's hard to see how any of the current lineup of exotic cars could be maintained 30 or 50 years from now when specialized proprietary parts break.