Should you buy one?

The Maserati GranTurismo Folgore has a lot stacked up against it – the first proper electric car from Italy’s “Motor Valley”, it has beaten rival makers Ferrari, Lamborghini and Pagani to the market. Being first has many advantages but comes with enormous added pressure to get it right first time.

Asking one chassis to work for both electric and petrol powertrains is also a tall order that traditionally hasn’t delivered favourable results, often meaning additional weight and less space for the battery (and therefore less range) than a dedicated EV platform.

And to make matters even worse – this is an electric car that needs to uphold the GranTurismo name, perhaps Maserati’s most famous, and certainly the model that embodies the manufacturer’s whole Italian grand tourer vibe.

That’s a tricky move not just because of the pressure of heritage, but because it’s even harder to find battery space in a tarmac-skimming coupe. The easy option would be to fill the floor of a high-riding SUV – of which Maserati already has two – without having to worry about compromising ride- or seat-height.

But going-all-in strategies are exciting aren’t they? And on first inspection it looks like this one has paid off massively. It’s achingly good looking, fast beyond belief, and handles like a much smaller sports car.

Somehow Maserati has managed to fit in all the electric car tech and a competitive EV range without compromising the coupe’s handling or styling priciples. The driver’s seat is actually lower than in the old car’s, and you get more passenger space in the rear seats too. We don’t really know how they’ve pulled it off.

The only downside really is the price, which makes it unobtainable for most. But if this is what we can expect from Maserati’s Folgore range in the future, sign us up.

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