If a new report holds water, when Maserati shows up to the electric car party later this decade, it’s going to be looking a little lighter on its wheels than its clean-burning predecessors.
During an interview with Car and Driver, Maserati CTO Roberto Fedeli indicated that although the automaker’s all-electric debut is lagging behind the market, there’s good reason for it. The Italian marque wants to build something “very different” that won’t suffer the same problem that he feels has thus far rendered electric cars somewhat undriveable: their unwieldy weights.
Fedeli — an ex-chief engineer at Ferrari who also worked at BMW — told the magazine that Maserati wants its EV to be lighter and more fun to drive than current electric offerings, lamenting that today’s vehicles offer good acceleration for three seconds but, thanks to the collapsed-star-like weight of their batteries, not much beyond that.
“That’s all the emotion that is found. After that there is nothing,” he said. “Torque and power are interesting for a few seconds but then the weight doesn’t let you enjoy the car on a normal road. That’s inconsistent with the brand we are representing and needs to be solved.”
Numbers-wise, his assertion holds up. The Tesla Model S tips the scales between 4,608 and 4,936 pounds. The Quattroporte — Maserati’s flagship sedan — is about a quarter-ton lighter, at 4,1010-4,233 pounds.
According to Fedeli, Maserati’s e-model will debut in either 2019 or 2020 and, even though its electric motor won’t be able to replicate the brand’s signature sound, the car will have plenty of features to set it apart from existing electric cars which classic Maserati customers will enjoy.
Should be worth the weight.
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