While the old GranTurismo’s astonishing naturally-aspirated V8 is out of production, the GranTurismo Folgore packs electric power that pairs well with luxury sensibilities. Oh, and it should be quick enough to rip cat’s eyes out of the tarmac. Maserati expects a zero-to-60 mph time of just 2.6 seconds and a top speed north of 200 mph. Credit three electric motors cranking out 1,200 horsepower with achieving those feats. Charging time doesn’t sound bad either, an 800-volt architecture should let the GranTurismo Folgore gain 100 miles of range in just ten minutes. Jaw-droppingly impressive stuff from Maserati of all marques. It wasn’t that long ago that Maserati was plucking switchgear from the Dodge Dart, now it’s making what should be a world-class electric GT car. We just love to see it.
Best of all, Maserati isn’t the only manufacturer bringing an electric GT car to market. Rolls-Royce has the Spectre on the way, while Bentley is cooking up something of its own. The GT space will soon enjoy a bevy of electric options, which begs a question: What role does an electric GT car have in today’s automotive landscape? Of course, I’m not shaming bourgeoisie decadence here, I want all the toys all the time, but I’m taking a more philosophical viewpoint. See, a GT car is made for grand touring, criss-crossing areas like Europe with intent to learn new disciplines and experience culture. Fencing lessons in France, traversing the Alps, picking up painting in Italy, and experiencing wonderful cuisine all along the way. It’s not a road trip of constant motion, but rather a holistic experience that broadens horizons and enriches the soul. [Ed note: Oh my sweet summer child. It’s a chance to drink in new places with new people! – MH] Of course, there is still a lot of travel involved, which brings up a question of charging.
Short jaunts between destinations with plenty of time to stop for lunch should theoretically make for the perfect sort of trip for an EV, right? Well, only if consistent, reliable charging is available en route. While large cities like Toulouse and Napoli likely have a few working DC fast chargers, tiny hamlets might not have any charging stations as they only pop up where demand exists. What if someone on a grand tour wants to go to Christophe Bacquié in La Castellet but needs DC charging at their destination? They’d have to stop somewhere else to charge, adding travel time and delaying further experiences, and that’s assuming other charging stations are functional at all. It’s no secret that public charging networks are hideously unreliable, and consistent charging is key when looking to cover serious distance. Researchers at the University of California Berkeley went around to public Level 3 charging stations and found that 22.7 percent were inoperable. Imagine if gas stations were much less common than they are now and that 22.7 percent of gas pumps didn’t work. It would drive you mad, right? Plus, electric charging networks are strained as it sits, with demand often outstripping the number of reliable Level 3 charging stations in any given area. Forbes reports that a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory claims that 3.4 Level 3 stations and 40 Level 2 stations will be needed for every 1,000 EVs. That may not sound like a lot at first, but it means that charger installation ramp-up would have to be extreme over the next several years to keep up with EV registrations.
Don’t get me wrong, I like electric cars a lot. Even the smoothest of V12s can’t compete with the silky action of electric motors, and the convenience of at-home charging for short daily journeys is awesome. However, without substantial infrastructure investment, I’m not sure if an electric GT car plays well with the origin of the genre. All photos courtesy of Maserati Here’s YOUR opportunity to be the new CEO of an American company to dominate the market: I can see it now…Jason Torchinsky CEO of Sparky, Inc. Tagline: Go to Sparky.com and find one of our 10,000 fast cheap EV chargers nationwide…Just look for our blinking taillight Yeah, hard pass. Maserati isn’t anything like what they used to be. The Osca MT4, Tipo 61 “Birdcage” streamliner, 450S Coupe, now THAT is the cohort that Maserati should use as a basis for their design language. With today’s tech and aerodynamics knowledge, they could make it get acceptable range under street-legal driving conditions with a pack of under 25 kWh and keep the finished vehicle weight well under a ton by doing so. There are batteries today that in such a small package could do thousands of horsepower peak. Maserati, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lotus, Jaguar, Porsche, and the like all used to have such deliciously light and tossable cars, and now nearly all of their offerings are obese lardasses whose weight is on the order of a modern SUV, if the vehicle isn’t an SUV outright. Batteries are heavy. Batteries that hold enough juice for GT-esque driving are heavy AND bulky. Heavy bulky batteries require strong chassis for safety. Strong chassis also required for safety regs. Strong chassis heavy. Stronger chassis also needed for better handling (stiffer etc) Stronger chassis heavier, need more power to push to high speed. Stronger chassis need more battery. More Battery weight more. etc etc. EV design is caught in that loop, where every point on the loop is a compromise between performance, range and handling efficiency (weight/balance): and every vehicle designer hits their own choice of acceptable compromise. Until batteries can achieve the same energy-storage density as liquid petrol this will always be the case. Batteries don’t need to get any denser to become viable for lightweight/nimble sports cars. They already are. The cars themselves have to be designed around the battery’s limitations. We need less drag, less bloat. This has the side benefit of making the car go faster on less horsepower, not just increasing range. This philosophy could also be applied to ICE cars and have massive positive impacts on fuel economy and performance. But the auto industry is not fond of this idea because it threatens the planned obsolescence business model that has been the reigning paradigm for more than a century, and would cannibalize the sales of vehicles with fatter margins. Maserati could easily make a sports car of similar size, power, and mass to the Speirling. It would have a greatly faster car as a result that could also potentially be much less expensive to operate. But it insists on building overweight crossovers dressed in drag that pretend to be race cars, that have little function beyond allowing some desperate rich dude to impress an overly materialistic subset of women and/or being used as garage ornaments, which eat one’s wallet every step of the way. I’m doubtful I’ll ever see this new Granturismo Folgore in person driving around the real world, or if I do, it might be a once in a lifetime event. Maserati has lost its way and disgraced its heritage. As has Ferrari, Lotus, Aston Martin, Porsche, and so many others. At least a Miata is still a relative featherweight, and it passes regulations as well. I’ll be more than happy to take it off their hands after the inevitable depreciation bomb hits though. 😉 (I’m being a bit sarcastic, but it is a Maserati after all…) Once upon a time, you didn’t buy a Maserati because it was reliable. You bought it because it sounded like sex, rewarded you with perfectly matched ratios that could be explored via a dogleg box and provided an overall driving experience that was UNIQUE. In the future, the electric Maserati will still be unreliable (probably more so) and will possess none of the allure of its combustion powered forebears. So what is the point really? GTS are heavy and powerful, but Maserati units should not venture far from civilization or a dealer currently. so the range on this should not scare anyone, you can’t go far in ice either. What’s a “minger”? (first paragraph) Which DoucheBro slapped that sticker on the side of that beautiful car?!?!? Redundancy is the big buzzword these days… But to your very valid point, I don’t think the Grand Touring lifestyle is undertaken anymore. Rarely are the gasoline contemporaries on weeks-long, continent-wide tours. These cars have outgrown or perhaps evolved beyond that wondrous use. As I type, I’m thinking maybe the large EarthRoamer and similar expedition-size/style builds are the new “GT” vehicles. What better way to [silently /s] display your wealth and culture than a huge vehicle that can reach far parts of the globe and the insinuation that you have the ability to take months off to drive yourself there. Is this Jalopnik? It’s a very meh design, and I’d argue the DB11 is more attractive simply because at least it has some aggressiveness to it. This looks too much like a bar of soap. Yeah, the cutout on the bumper is horrible. It’s such a small detail, but it becomes so apparent. It looks like an afterthought. At least they could have put it up against an existing body panel gap to hide two seams… I still browse classifieds for early 2010s GranTurismos, that glorious sounding V8 and wonderful styling stand up today. I’m sure that if you are traveling from Michelin star to star the support system wil be in place. Check extra instructions by visiting following web….. https://paymentroot258.pages.dev/ When every other automaker is building electrics from the ground up on new platforms, this looks incredibly lazy. We get a 15 year old gas car with electric motors shoved in and a questionable restyle and Maser expects people to pay supercar prices? Hard pass.
