Everywhere you look in the car industry, another major brand is announcing a battery-electric power initiative. Everywhere, that is, except at Ferrari.
The Italian supercar maker, newly independent since January, is determined that there will be no silent surge of power in its near future, even as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, and BMW all have committed to building exhaust-free electric cars. The 70-year-old company will instead follow the lead of its Formula 1 program to downsize its engines and mate them to fast-discharging hybrid power, while sneering at the whispering rivals ahead of it.
?We would not follow to develop a fully electric car,? Ferrari?s chief technology officer, Michael Leiters, said at the Paris auto show, where the company’s centerpiece was the LaFerrari Aperta (above), the roadster version of its hybrid exotic with a V-12 plus an electric motor. ?We are convinced that it?s right to have a hybrid car because, for us, the sound is a very crucially important characteristic of a Ferrari, and our customers want to have this. Definitely for us also, the electric technology is interesting, not for reducing emissions but for increasing the performance of the cars,? Leiters said.
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“Electric technology is interesting, not for reducing emissions but for increasing the performance of the cars.?

?Michael Leiters, Ferrari CTO

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