Earlier this week, Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne announced the seismic shift in Ferrari’s plans for the near future to hybridize all of its new cars in the next three years. Why? Profit. For Ferrari to stand on its own, away from ex-parent company FCA, it needs to prove it can turn a profit without the support of a larger company. So to make the investors happy, Ferrari is ramping up production to 8,000 cars a year, aiming for 9,000 cars by 2019. It gets interesting when Marchionne says that “it is possible that the number could be well in excess of 10,000 cars in 2025.” Because, if Ferrari pumps out 10,000 cars, by EU law, they’re required to meet stricter emission and fuel-economy requirements. Which explains the push for more hybrid technology throughout the lineup.
But, before you start screaming “heresy!” at your screen, consider what this means purely from a performance standpoint. Ferrari doesn’t use hybrid technology the same way as a Toyota Prius, switching between engine power and battery power for the sake of range. Ferrari uses electricity supplementally to mechanical power, not in lieu of it. The LaFerrari gets 161 extra horsepower from its hybrid system, and that’s with the technology in its infancy. As the battery technology inevitably improves, not only does power get a bump, but overall efficiency goes up as well. And if the hybrid technology can prove to be more efficient and enhance performance better than turbos can, Ferrari will switch back to naturally aspirated engines faster than you can say “supercharger.”
Swapping turbos for hybrid systems will bring back higher rev-limits with instantaneous torque from zero RPM, not to mention better exhaust notes. In short, you want Ferrari to go 100 percent hybrid.
Further Reading
The Last Non-Hybrid Ferrari V12
The First Ferrari in the Second Turbo-Era
