New Maserati Grecale Folgore is electric sports SUV for 2023
Maserati shows its first pure-electric car, due on sale a year after the combustion version
The fully electric Maserati Grecale Folgore (for lightning) will touch down in dealerships a year after the combustion car, as one of six new electric Maserati models due by 2025.
Revealed today alongside the standard Maserati Grecale, which gets mild hybrid four-cylinder and pure-petrol V6 engine options, the Grecale Folgore will take on Porsche's upcoming Macan EV and the Audi Q6 E-tron when it goes on sale next summer.
It will be sold initially alongside electric versions of the reborn Granturismo and open-top Grancabrio, due to be revealed later this year, and joined before 2025 by pure-EV versions of the Maserati MC20 supercar, Quattroporte sports saloon and larger Levante SUV.
From 2025 onwards, Maserati will launch only pure-electric cars, joining the other European premium brands under the Stellantis umbrella: DS, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo.
Technical details of the Grecale Folgore remain largely under wraps this far out from its launch, but Maserati promises it will pack up to 590lb ft – almost as much as the Audi E-tron S, which cracks 0-62mph in 4.5sec – and has a 105kWh battery, which could feasibly supply upwards of 350 miles of range.
It is unclear also whether Maserati's re-engineering of the Giorgio platform to accommodate an electric drivetrain holds any implications for the future of the similarly sized Alfa Romeo Stelvio, which rides on the same platform.
The architecture was originally developed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) before the company merged with PSA to create Stellantis. It cost around £800 million to develop, but so far has only been deployed on the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio, and has not been listed by Stellantis as one of the platforms it will use as it launches a wave of bespoke electric vehicles over the coming years.
The Grecale Folgore will be largely identical to the combustion car inside and out, save for the option of an exclusive Rame Folgore paint finish which changes colour according to the angle of light and the use of recycled fishing nets throughout the interior.
The same looks to be true of the electric Granturismo, which has been previewed several times by Maserati ahead of an unveiling later this year and looks similarly proportioned and styled to the V8-engined first generation which bowed out in 2019.
