Ferrari Soon to be a hybrid.
- CEO Sergio Marchionne said after Ferrari reported Q1 earnings that nearly all the brand's vehicles would be hybrids by 2022.
- A small number of purely gas-powered Ferraris could remain.
Ferraris run on gas and lots of it. The carmaker's powerful eight- and 12-cylinder engines take petrol, add air, set in on fire, and transform it into speed and the unholy, intoxicating howl that owners are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars and stand in line for years to enjoy.
But for CEO Sergio Marchionne, the writing is on the wall. Ferrari employs hybrid gas-electric drivetrains on its most costly and exotic hypercars, but by 2022, the entire range will be hybridized.
Marchionne made the declaration on a call with analysts after Ferrari reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
Ferrari has to go hybrid for two reasons: it wants to sell more vehicles annually and emissions and fuel-economy requirements are becoming more stringent worldwide.
The factors are linked - the more cars Ferrari sells, the less leniency it will receive for its devoutly old-school internal combustion motors.
Not that they'll ever go completely away.
"Some clients will require combustion," Marchionne said. He stressed that it's not easy to hybridize a 12-cylinder engine.
But he also acknowledged that the entire question of a hybrid Ferrari is a big one.
"We're debating it all the time," he said.