Most people who work in and around the automobile industry agree that the industry will one day become all-electric. They’ll probably all become self-driving one day, too. Most high-profile car companies are already working on switching over to the new all-electric format, with the types of hybrid cars that you’re starting to see on the roads today acting as a step between the petroleum-fueled cars of the past and the plug-in-and-charge cars of the future. Even Aston Martin, which is one of the most exclusive and prestigious car companies in the world, has started to dip its toes into the electric vehicle market (albeit not as quickly as it originally intended to).
Not every car manufacturer is yet convinced by the merits of switching to a more environmentally-friendly type of car, though, and chief among them is Ferrari. The company’s CEO has recently been fielding questions about whether or not the world’s most famous car brand would be considering all-electric fleets in the future – and the answer was a resounding no. Louis Camilleri, who’s chiefly responsible for dictating what does and doesn’t happen in terms of new car design within the company, says he doesn’t believe Ferrari will go all-electric so long as he’s alive, and doesn’t foresee the company committing to going beyond a 50/50 balance of electric and non-electric cars at any point in the future – even after he’s no longer around.
Camilleri’s comments are perhaps not all that surprising. Ferrari is more than just a car manufacturer. It’s a global brand with shareholders and an image to protect, and announcing a sudden interest in eco-friendly cars might damage its stock price. Ferrari isn’t like most other car companies. You can buy Ferrari-branded t-shirts, hats, and household items just as you can with some other big-name brands, but most of those brands don’t also have a range of online slots games in the way that Ferrari does. If you were to log onto an online slots website like Kong Casino right now, you’d find games with titles like “Dream Car Ferrari” and “Ferrari Car & Cash,” both of which have been made with the company’s permission. The Ferrari brand is such a lucrative money-earner that it can even attract profits from online slots websites, regardless of how far removed from driving that field of entertainment might be.
People tend to associate Ferrari with big, powerful cars, and quiet, delicate electric-only cars don’t fit that vision. The traditions of the past still run strongly through the company from top to bottom, from the look, feel, and shape of its cars to the company’s obsession with success on the world’s race tracks. It might be true to say that they’re not enjoying their time in Formula 1 as much as they used to at the moment, but the Ferrari team is still the one that people generally think of first when they think about Formula 1, or even motorsport in general. Buying a Ferrari is a statement made by people who want to show off their status and resources. Being loud, uneconomical powerhouses is almost their whole purpose. Besides, this is the company that’s built arguably the best V12 engine in the world. If you’d designed that, you’d want to ensure that it remained in use for as long as possible.
While the company (or, at least, the CEO of the company) is pessimistic about the chances of Ferrari saying goodbye to the conventional engine at any point in the foreseeable future, that isn’t to say that they’re not willing to give buyers the option to purchase an “e-Ferrari” if they so desire. Behind the scenes, they’ve been experimenting with the electric format for some time, and we got our first look at what they’ve been working on when the SF90 Stradale launched in mid-2019. The quality of the product suggests that Ferrari could excel in this field if they chose to do so. Despite being a hybrid car – the first of its kind from the famous brand – it’s also the fastest Ferrari of all time. Shifting away from dependence on combustion engines doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing speed.
When the first reviews of the SF90 Stradale came out, the car was described as a ‘rocket ship.’ Boasting almost 1000 horsepower and capable of shifting from zero to sixty miles per hour in a fraction over two seconds, it doesn’t suffer in any way from the fact that it’s a hybrid. The electric aspect of it, however, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of practicality and longevity. Drivers have the option to switch to all-electric if they decide to do so, but they can only travel for fifteen miles on it before they have to either recharge or switch the engine back on. It’s a stunningly beautiful vehicle, but it’s not a significant contribution to the furthering of hybrid cars as a concept.
In terms of releasing a car that’s genuinely dependent on electricity alone and might offer better performance and range, the company is currently a little vague with its plans. Ferrari has confirmed that they’ll be doing so at some point in the future, but they don’t currently have a name for the proposed vehicle, and they don’t expect to have it ready to unveil to the world until 2025 at the earliest. Internally, the company says that they won’t consider making changes to their plans until there’s no performance difference between a car powered by electricity and a car powered by a combustion engine. Nobody knows when that day might arrive, so perhaps Louis Camilleri is right to dismiss it as a possibility. On the other hand, Ferrari has refused to issue a company statement on the matter, so it could also be the case that Camilleri’s views are his and his alone – even if they’re the most important views in the whole Ferrari organization.
One day, gas stations will be replaced by charging stations, and cars will drift past you on the roads almost silently, producing zero harmful emissions in the process. In the meantime, Ferrari will continue doing exactly what they’ve been doing for decades – and we imagine most of the loyal fans of the brand will be more than satisfied with that.