Italy’s most notorious and prestigious car companies are open to electric vehicles, but the products have to be right and align with the historically rich tradition of cars they have produced for decades.
After Lamborghini announced its $1.8 billion plan to shift to electrification earlier this year, Ferrari is not far behind with its introduction to EVs. While the company did not outline any financial plans or its strategy to build electric vehicles, Ferrari is ready to commit when the time is right. During the company’s recent Q2 2021 Earnings call, Ferarri executives sparred with the idea of welcoming electric powertrains into their legendary lineup of cars, with plans being in the preliminary stages based on the responses during the call.
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As climate goals in the EU align with a 2035 ban on combustion engines, Ferrari is well aware of what climate regulations may do to its business. As gas-powered engines may not be available for production or purchase after that date, there are several indications that Ferrari will make the jump eventually. Chairman and CEO of Ferrari John Elkann said that the automaker welcomes the regulatory ruling of a halt on gas-powered engine products, especially as climate agendas have Europe as the global leader in transitioning to sustainable transportation.
“We see the regulation as welcome,” Elkann said, “because it’s part of an ambitious plan that Europe wants to have, which is important for the world overall. And we believe that what it will do to our organization, and I say this because I’ve seen it is just making and creating very exciting opportunities in terms of the products that we could be — that we will be thinking of and bringing to market.”
Ferrari does not seem interested in limiting its powertrains to electric. After a Goldman Sachs analyst asked what could fuel Ferrari’s alternative fuel efforts, Elkann said whatever was available to them regarding energy supply is a possibility. “…we’ll have changes within the energy supply, which could lead to having alternatives, for example, e-fuels or hydrogen. But that is really 2030, 2040, and most likely midpoint 2035, where we’ll see this happening. What we want to make sure is to be able to use the technologies available, which today are hybrid going to electric and exploiting those to the fullest and in the best way possible.”
Ultimately, Ferrari seems to not want to sacrifice its legendary status as a luxury performance carmaker to release an incomplete or unworthy product. Seeing as the company is a low-volume automaker, only delivering 9,119 cars in 2020, the plan has time. However, it won’t want to wait too long to develop its electric tech, as other car companies, like Tesla, are matching and exceeding their brand’s performance specs, which have long been among the best in the world.
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