Fascination: the electric Maserati Gran Turismo in Pebble Beach
Caught! this is the first electric Maserati
Maserati Gran Turismo 2023
© press-inform – the press office
It will still be a few months before Maserati presents its first all-electric model, the GranTurismo. In California he was already uncamouflaged.
The entire automotive world is currently bustling on California’s Monterey Peninsula. Every year, Car Week is a magnet for fans and – more importantly – now also for manufacturers. It’s all about showing off with super sports cars, luxury cars and top-class vintage cars. The glamor that trade fairs such as the IAA or the Geneva Motor Show once exuded is now reflected in events such as “The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering”, “Legends of the Autobahn” or the famous “Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance” as part of the Car Week out. But not there on the sacred lawn of what is probably the best car show in the world, but a few kilometers further at a mundane charging station, fans were amazed at a car that could well have been part of the Car Week: parked there completely uninhibitedly and without any camouflage brand new Maserati GranTurismo. It won’t actually be unveiled until next year and is nothing more and nothing less than Maserati’s first all-electric model.
The first glance makes it clear: Stylistically, the brand remains true to itself and correctly interprets the term GT, although the design does not come from old master Pininfarina, as was the case with the last generation, but was developed in-house under the direction of the German Klaus Busse: The GranTurismo is a large touring sports car with four seats and an incredibly long bonnet. Conceptually, it would not be necessary, because the electric drive does not take up nearly as much space as a full V8 or even a V12. But for the time being, Maserati will go two ways and also offer internal combustion engines by the end of the decade. Although they don’t have eight cylinders as before, they still have six – derivatives of the Nettuno engine of the MC20 super sports car. And it has it all: A derivative is already being used in the mid-size SUV Grecale, there with 530 hp. But the GranTurismo could certainly do with more.
The GranTurismo gets this extra power in the Folgore version, as all Maserati electric vehicles will be called in the future: Up to 1200 hp are promised in Modena. This should make the car faster than 300 km/h and sprint from zero to 100 in less than three seconds. If that were to happen, Maserati would definitely be among the world’s best all-electric sports cars – and that would be as early as next year. In addition, the GranTurismo Folgore has an 800-volt architecture. It can be heard from Italy that the electrical system has an inverter made of silicon carbide as a special feature. Standard, even with the German premium manufacturers, is pure silicon. The advantage of this solution is a lower time delay and less temperature sensitivity – an important aspect under continuous full load.
Maserati is also going full steam ahead on the drive side: the GranTurismo Folgore has three electric motors, one on the front axle and two on the rear axle. The two rear ones share a common housing, but work separately from each other. This allows the drive torque to be even more finely tuned to the respective wheels. After all, the GranTurismo Folgore should also set standards when it comes to handling. Logically, the heavy 100-kilowatt battery unit is also located deep in the underbody.
Shortly after the GranTurismo Folgore, the Grecale Folgore will be launched next year. The main difference: the electric SUV only has a 400-volt architecture. It is rather unlikely that it will receive the expensive three-motor solution as a significantly more price-sensitive model, but, as usual, will have to make do with two drive units. After all, the total output of 500 hp and the 105-kilowatt battery are already certain. This should make ranges of almost 500 kilometers realistic. Maserati states succinctly that the top speed is over 200 km/h. Of course, the MC20 Folgore super sports car, which will celebrate its premiere at the beginning of 2024 as the third electric car from Maserati, has to be significantly more. But until that happens, Maserati prefers to show the new MC20 Cielo at Car Week – the convertible of the combustion engine version. And it’s faster than 320 km/h.