Ferrari began electrifying the engines of its supercars a decade and a half ago, so this is not a completely unfamiliar field for the Cavallino Rampante (Prancing Horse)!

Comparing Xiaomi EVs, Ferrari’s LUCE and BYD’s Yangwang brand reveals a battle between tech giant innovation, luxury heritage and extreme quad-motor performance, with prices ranging from roughly USD56,000 for high-performance Chinese models up to USD640,000 for Italian luxury.

Ferrari Elettrica, a brand new car from start to finish. It debuts a new platform, suspension, a huge battery supported by an 800-volt system, all other electric propulsion components (inverters, electric motors, etc.) and even a new general construction at Ferrari.

Designed and assembled in Maranello, the 122 kWh battery has an energy density of almost 280 Wh/L, the highest of any electric car currently available. Ferrari opted for a strategy of designing and producing as many of the battery components as possible in-house to meet the goal of offering a Ferrari “for life”.

It was therefore crucial to ensure that the batteries could one day be easily replaced, either by individual modules or completely if, for example, a new chemistry is invented in the meantime, which will allow greater autonomy and even the overall performance of the Elettrica.

This was also one of the reasons why Ferrari’s engineers chose not to use a construction method in which the batteries are part of the vehicle’s structure (cell-to-pack or cell-to-body).

The 15 battery modules (comprising a total of 210 “pouch” cells, supplied by Korean company SK) are installed in the floor of the car, between the axles, with 85% of them (13) concentrated in the lowest possible position on the floor (and two in a “second floor” under the rear seat) to improve driving dynamics. In this way, the Italian engineers achieved a center of gravity 80 mm lower than that of a petrol-powered model of equivalent dimensions.

The 800-volt system voltage allows the maximum charging power to reach 350 kW, which in practice means that it will be possible to inject 70 kW of energy (enough for a range of around 300 kilometers) into the batteries in 20 minutes.

Each of the two electric axles (developed and manufactured entirely by Ferrari) has two permanent magnet synchronous motors (PSM) with Halbach rotors (derived from F1), a transmission and an inverter. The front axle has a power density of 3.23 kW or 4.39 hp/kg and an efficiency of 90%, while the rear axle achieves 4.87 kW or 6.62 hp/kg and an efficiency of 93%.

In terms of absolute performance figures, it is 286 hp on the front axle (equally distributed between the two motors) and 843 hp on the rear, resulting in a total maximum power output that Ferrari says “exceeds 1,000 hp” (and 1,040 Nm, 280 front and 760 rear).

Observing the performance of both models, we see that the SF90 is faster to 100 km/h (just 2.3 seconds compared to the Elettrica’s 2.5 seconds) and that its top speed is also higher (230 compared to 210 km/h).

And what is certain is that it will continue to hold the lap record at Fiorano (where Ferrari’s road cars are put through their paces and set the record) with a time of 1m17.309s, set in November 2023, as Fulgenzi confirmed: “The Elettrica will be a few tenths of a second slower, yes”

If so, it will still be a fantastic time, considering that its power-to-weight ratio will be much less favourable: 2,300 kilos driven by “something more” than 1,000 hp compared to the 1,030 hp of the SF90 XX Stradale, which ‘only’ has to carry 1,560 kilos, less than half.

All these figures, by extending the analysis a little further, reveal that the Elettrica will have 0-50 km/h acceleration that is impossible to match by any other Ferrari model (thanks to the instant delivery of all the torque characteristic of electric models). Otherwise, it would never be possible to lose the standard sprint by just two tenths of a second to the SF90 XX.

So, will it be a prancing horse or Xiaomi SU7 power or maybe even the Yangwang U9 combined power and luxury that tickles supercar buyers from 2027 onwards.

The customer/ownership reaction is what we are waiting to see and read!