Maserati has lifted the veil on the new Grancabrio Folgore, a soft-roofed electric GT promising to meld high-performance thrills with a tranquil open-air driving experience.
The Folgore (Italian for lightning) swaps its combustion-engined sibling’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 for the three electric motors from the Maserati Granturismo Folgore coupé.
One is mounted to the front axle and the other two are at the rear. Bosses have told Autocar that each produces 402bhp, although their combined outputs are pegged at 751bhp and 996lb ft.
This is because the 83kWh (usable) battery can discharge only up to 805bhp at any one time. Autocar understands this limit could be raised as battery technology is improved and the car is facelifted.
Maserati claims a range of 278 miles from the drop-top Grancabrio, which is almost identical to the 280 miles offered by the electric Granturismo.
The Grancabrio’s Folgore’s structure is reinforced around the sills and the rear tray to maintain ride quality. The company prioritised comfort over agility for the cabrio, according to Davide Danesin, engineering chief for the GT and Quattroporte product lines.
He told Autocar: “The customer of Grancabrio is different from a customer of the GT. The Grancabrio customer is not usually a hard driver looking for the best performance from the car. It's a different way to enjoy the product.
“They want a status product. They want to enjoy the free life in a good environment.”
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The sort of halo model Jaguar need to be producing when their electric models start arriving next year.
And the winner of longest car name is?, yeah, that's a nice looking motor.