Ferrari’s first electric car is coming next year with big speed, big sound and Jony Ive design

Sound is a complex topic in cars. Some cars are good because they are loud. Some cars are good because they are very quiet. Only a few cars can be counted in both categories. Really, only Hyundai Ferrari manages to tick both boxes, but if Ferrari’s promises about its first electric car are to be believed, we may soon have another entrant.

At an event at the company’s headquarters in Maranello, Italy, Ferrari revealed the first correct details about its first electric car, the Elettrica, which is set to make its full debut next year. We’re missing some key details (like what it looks like), but after spending a day talking with the various engineers working behind this machine, I can finally reveal what makes this car move and what it might look like, too.

Power is the key metric for any Ferrari, and the Elettrica has plenty of it. Four electric motors, one for each wheel, combine to generate more than 1,000 horsepower. This would make it close to the power of the company’s new F80 supercar, but at an age However, Elettrica’s output isn’t exactly amazing.

This is something even Ferrari’s chief product development officer, Gianmaria Fulgenzi, acknowledged: “It’s very easy and simple to generate power in an electric motor. It’s not difficult.” Turning the corner is what it’s really about, he said. He described current performance electric cars as “elephants,” capable of traveling quickly in a straight line but failing miserably at being convincing machines to drive.

This is partly why the Elettrica has four engines. This way, the car’s traction and stability management systems can adjust power to maximize grip on each tire individually, rather than relying on one or two motors with a differential to try to manage wheel spin. But it’s deeper than that. Elettrica can also steer each rear wheel independently, more or less into or out of a turn to help manage (or perhaps even induce) oversteer.

Finally, the Elettrica will have active suspension, a new type that debuted in the Purosangue SUV and is also used in the F80 supercar. Ferrari’s dampers replace conventional valves and oil with an electric motor that provides resistance. This means, once again, that damping and vehicle height can be adjusted independently at each corner, almost instantly.

All of this will lead to an electric car that drives like no other on the road, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said: “We want to show that we are able to harness any technology in a unique way.” Creating a compelling electric car, a type of car that many decry as being too similar, would be a bold way to do it.

One of the main factors for this is the unique sound. Ferrari’s engineers knew they needed to come up with some sort of audio accompaniment for the Elettrica, but they also knew it had to be authentic. “We didn’t make a fake sound, like a spaceship or something,” Fulgenzi said. “We wanted to get exactly the sound of an electric motor.”

Ferrari came up with a solution similar to the one Porsche used for the Taycan, but implemented it in a new way. In the Taycan, Porsche sampled and remixed the sounds of the car’s electrical components. For the Elettrica, Ferrari has already installed an accelerometer inside the housing of the rear electric motors. This sensor picks up the harmonic resonance and passes it through a digital amplifier to create sound that is not a sample – it actually comes directly from those drivers.

Fulgenzi likens it to the amplifier on an electric guitar, which picks up the near-inaudible vibration of the strings and turns it into a (potentially ear-splitting) sound. Maybe that’s a bit ambitious, but the proof of course will be in the listening, something Ferrari hasn’t let me (or anyone else) do yet.

They’re also not showing anyone what it looks like, but it seems safe to expect this machine to have a look and design unlike any Ferrari that has come before. This is because Ferrari is working for the first time with the design house LoveFrom, known as In 2019 and after .

LoveFrom has worked on a few projects since its inception, but this will be the company’s first car. Given that, we have absolutely nothing to go on when it comes to the visual style. But if I had to guess, I’d say there’s something a little more themed on the menu based on Eve’s previous work. (And also his own car collection, which includes many classic pieces from famous British cars).

What we do know is that the Elettrica will have four doors and four seats. No, then, this wouldn’t be a proper sports car, it would fall somewhere between a grand tourer and an SUV. It will be something designed with a modicum of practicality and comfort, and able to move quietly and quietly if you want. Or, by twisting a few knobs on the steering wheel, it can tighten and become louder when it feels too noisy.

With a range north of 330 miles, it should be a good tourer too. This comes from a 122 kWh (total) battery pack divided into 15 modules, each containing 14 NMC bag cells. The cells are initially sourced from SK On, but Ferrari has clarified that it is not associated with that supplier.

In fact, the company hopes to evolve the battery pack design and chemistry over the years, keeping a version of it available for decades to come. This is, after all, a Ferrari, a machine that should increase in value over time. However, this is a challenge that currently holds other premium EV makers back.

Can Ferrari make a truly desirable and premium electric car? Attaching Jony Ive’s name certainly wouldn’t hurt. We’ll all have to wait until early next year to see what it looks and feels like. Personally, I won’t be too excited about this car until then, but I’m very glad it exists at all. In 2011, Luca di Montezemelo, then Ferrari’s CEO, told me that Ferrari would . I was skeptical of his statement at the time, and after 14 years, I’m glad to finally see the company.