Maserati Going Full Electric With a Vengeance (and Flashes of Lightning)

Maserati Folgore. Roll that term off your tongue because that is the future of the luxury brand that will have a totally new, fully electric product lineup by 2025 and expects to stop offering vehicles with combustion engines by 2030 because it looks like consumers will no longer be interested in them, says CEO Davide Grasso.

The storied but troubled brand has been revamped, Grasso told reporters during a virtual press conference. It has been hit by Folgore, which is Italian for lightning. The Folgore name will be attached to the electric versions of each model and every one will have Folgore badging.

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Maserati Grecale EV Next Year

It all starts with the addition of the Maserati Grecale midsize SUV that makes its global debut March 22. The SUV is launching in the next few days after parts shortages scuttled plans to do so last November. It will be on sale this summer in Europe and reach North America in the fall with a choice of a combustion engine or as a hybrid.

An all-electric Grecale will follow next year and the Folgore variant will be the most powerful, using 800-volt technology. Range has not yet been revealed. The second SUV for Maserati, the Grecale borrows styling cues from the larger Maserati Levante SUV.

The Grecale uses a modified version of the Giorgio platform that gives the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV and Giulia sport sedan their superb road manners. The Grecale BEV requires modification of the Giorgio platform, but there will be no compromises, says Francesco Tonon, Maserati Global Head of Product.

The electric Maseratis coming in 2023 and 2025 do not use any of the four new dedicated Stellantis EV platforms being developed for the automaker. Maserati is the most overtly luxurious of the 14 brands owned by Stellantis, the automaker recently created by merging Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group.

Maserati GranTurismo EV in 2025

The next-generation Maserati GranTurismo 2+2 coupe and GranCabrio will offer the brand's first full battery-electric model, borrowing tech such as inverters developed for Formula E.

The GranTurismo, with a lightweight body and powertrain and low center of gravity, will be built at the Mirafiori manufacturing complex in Italy and hit the market in 2023. Consumers can choose a GT model with a V-6 engine or an EV with three motors.

Executives say it will have more than 1,200 horsepower, a top speed of more than 187 mph for a zero-to-60 mph time under 3 seconds.

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Maserati Quattroporte, Levante, MC20 Go EV In 2025

What else is coming due for electrification? The flagship Quattroporte sedan will be reinvented as an electric sedan in 2025. The next-generation Levante full-size SUV becomes all-electric in 2025, as well.

The MC20 mid-engine supercar that serves as the brand halo will add a spider to be unveiled this spring. A full electric MC20 is coming in 2025.

All the new models will be developed, engineered, and built in Italy. Engineers have also spent 18 months enhancing the sound of the electric motors to ensure the new EVs still sound like authentic Maseratis, Tonon says.

The pace of phasing out vehicles with combustion engines will likely vary by region and be dictated by consumer demand and government regulations, Grasso says.

Bye-Bye, Ghibli

The midsize Ghibli sedan has been refreshed for what appears to be its last generation. With the consumer shift to SUVs from sedans (60 percent of Maserati sales are generated by the Levante alone), the brand needs a sedan, but nottwosedans, Grasso says. The Quattroporte will be the only electric sedan in the future.

Maserati's global market share increased in 2021 from 1.9 to 2.4 percent with a 41 percent increase in sales to 24,269, which makes it very much a niche brand. In North America Maserati has 2.7 percent market share and it is higher in China at 2.9 percent.

The Maserati Folgore plan is part of the larger Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 plan that was recently outlined at an event in Amsterdam. The nine-year strategic plan contains bold financial predictions as each of the 14 brands transition to electrified vehicle lineups while doubling the automaker's revenue and maintaining double digit profit margins. The goal is to reduce BEV costs by 40 percent.

Stellantis has pledged to sell 5 million all-electric vehicles by 2030 when only EVs will be sold in Europe, and they will account for 50 percent of sales in North America.

Look for more than 100 vehicle launches through 2030, at which point Stellantis will have more than 75 battery-electric vehicle nameplates, including 25 in the U.S., Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says.

Maserati is also introducing new showrooms with a vehicle in the front window display, and an open air concept—no reception area—to have coffee, browse, configure your vehicle and then go to an open area where cars are displayed. The delivery experience will be on site, a memorable moment Maserati wants to create for customers. In the U.S. it is a three-year plan in the U.S., starting this year.