![]() ![]() Sport mode unleashes 100% of the power and unbuttons the traction control. The GT setting gives the user only 80% of the battery and motors' potential power, plenty for lazy cruising. When you run out of juice, a DC fast charger will take the battery from 20% to 80% in about 18 minutes. The Max Range setting keeps the power down and helps you go farther, which is important because, when it goes on sale later this year, Maserati is estimated to have an EPA-rated range of a little under 250 miles. Maserati Where We're Going We Will Need Modes Like every car nowadays, the Folgore has multiple driving modes, which not only control power output but also how it's sent to the wheels (i.e., traction control and torque vectoring). So I was only allowed to tackle a scant 50-kilometer route, but that was enough to get the gist of the Folgore's potential. Instead of a cappuccino or a bottle of San Pellegrino, they were filled with a pair of battery kill switches. To bring that point home, the cupholders were unusable. The version I tested was an early-build production model and Maserati is still in the process of tweaking things. ![]() The Folgore is not quite as light on its rims as the Trofeo and Modena, but it feels quite close. As wonderfully clever as the solution is, they haven't managed to hide all that extra girth. Peter's, as I found myself repeatedly wincing, "Dear God!" Not only is the Folgore stupefyingly fast, throwing down mondo power instantly with the slightest feathering of the throttle, but unlike most electric cars it's easily managed in the zig-zags and hairpins with minimal roll and a metric ton of precision, which is to say it drives more like you'd expect a Maserati and less like a homogenous EV. Maserati Fear Factor Ripping up some country roads north of Rome, you'd have thought I was in St. ![]() The electric GranTurismo weighs about 1,000 pounds more than the gas-powered models. Beyond the sports car sight lines, moving the mass to the center also reduces body roll and creates more stability when shifting directions, so the Folgore is lighter and more acrobatic as it dances through the corners. In fact, the seating position is exactly the same as in the combustion-engine models. The design allows the driver to sit lower than in most EVs. But the Maserati engineers created a T-shape configuration for the Folgore that runs down the center of the car, where you'd find the transmission in an ICE vehicle. Most EVs deploy their batteries in what's known as a "skateboard" layout, low and flat beneath the floor. Electric cells are heavy and the Folgore weighs in at 4,982 pounds that's roughly 1,000 more than its gas-burning siblings. That's not too shabby, but what truly sets the Folgore apart from other performance EVs is how Maserati has solved the issue of battery mass. On paper, the three motors are capable of 1,183 hp, but as they are tethered to a 92.5 kWh (84 kWh usable) battery that can't give them quite enough juice, they are restricted to an output of 749 hp and 996 lb-ft of torque. All three are all managed by silicon carbide inverters developed for Formula E, where Maserati has been competing for nearly a decade. One sends power to the front wheels and one each drives the duo in the back. Maserati Maserati's Electric Prowess Instead of the V6 available in the two gas-powered GranTurismo models, here we've got three 300 kW radial electric motors. But that was enough for me to shout, " Great Scott! " The Folgore is still getting tweaked before it officially heads to production. In between testing its internal-combustion-powered siblings, the Modena and Trofeo, on a press drive in Italy, Maserati handed me the keys - well a key fob - to an early production version of the Folgore to pilot over some country roads north of Rome. That's probably faster than mere mortals need to travel, but faster still is the 17,600 rpm the electric motors are spinning, a speed my ICE-trained automotive brain can barely comprehend. By fly, I mean punch it and the Folgore can hit 60 mph in 2.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 202 mph. Still, this new electric Maserati is an impressive waypoint and will absolutely fly.with its four wheels still on the ground. After all, we were promised jetpacks and cars that could take to the sky. ![]() Of course, the future hasn't entirely arrived. "Gas? Where we're going, we don't need gas." The new Italian two-door grand tourer is stunningly sculpted proof that electric power and technology can create a dynamic driving experience. Source: Sfgate Maserati: Review: Can an Electric Maserati Outwit the Classic GranTurismo? Inside Hook There's something about sitting behind the wheel of the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore that makes me want to do my best impression of Doc Brown in Back to the Future. ![]()
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