Ferrari never going full EV: report

FERRARI chief executive officer Louis Camilleri has made it very clear that the Prancing Horse will never go fully electric, or at least not in his lifetime.

As reported by American outlets AutoBlog and Motor1, the comments were made during Ferrari’s third-quarter earnings conference call between brand executives and investors when questions were raised regarding the potential cost-saving of an all-electric model line-up.

“My own sense is that to sort of say 100 per cent electric, that’s pushing things,” Mr Camilleri said.

“I really don’t see Ferrari ever being at 100 per cent EV. And, certainly not in my lifetime it will reach even 50 per cent.”

Mr Camilleri added that Ferrari would never be a brand to simply assemble a batch of off-the-shelf EV components and whack a Prancing Horse badge on it, but rather take its time and develop a special powertrain worthy of the Ferrari logo.

According to the Motor1 report, Ferrari’s third-quarter earnings were up 6.1 per cent compared to the same time last year, even with the still-ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with British publication Autocar earlier in the year, Ferrari commercial boss Enrico Galliera revealed the first fully electric Prancing Horse was still at least five years away and stipulated the brand would not be rushed.

“As soon as electrified technology is developed, that will allow us to produce a car that fits with our position. Then why not?”, he told Autocar.

“But the key is the technology: we will not just make a Ferrari that’s electric for the sake of it.

“We firmly believe that battery technology is not yet developed enough to meet the needs of a supercar … we do not believe the technology will be able to meet the needs of a Ferrari.”

The iconic Italian supercar specialist has launched two electrified models to date, those being the ballistic LaFerrari of 2013 and last year’s SF90 plug-in hybrid.

While no timeline has been revealed save for Mr Galliera’s ‘nothing within five years’ comments, we do know that Ferrari is at least planning or starting to develop a dedicated EV thanks to leaked patents and some extra comments made by Mr Camilleri to do with the sound of electric vehicles and how the brand had “done a lot of work” so far.

“That’s one element that we are working on, obviously, for competitive reasons,” he said.

“I’m not going to give you the details, but that's something that we are quite comfortable that we can achieve.”

Ferrari has sold 180 cars Down Under so far this year ending October, down almost 21 per cent on the 226 units it shifted over the same period last year.