LECCE, Italy – Maserati believes its clients ought to resolve if and once they go electrical. Whereas it’s increase its vary of EVs for motorists who suppose a twin-turbocharged V6 engine is the automotive equal of the horseshoe crab – the next-generation Quattroporte and Levante will notably be electrical – it’s nonetheless creating and promoting gasoline-burning automobiles for many who are lower than enthralled by battery know-how.
It launched the Grecale, its smallest SUV and its most inexpensive mannequin by a big margin, in 2022 and initially made it obtainable with both a four- or a six-cylinder engine. It’s a wager that paid off: Aimed on the Porsche Macan, the Grecale has predictably grow to be the Italian firm’s best-selling mannequin. The vary expands later this 12 months with the all-electric 2025 Maserati Grecale Folgore. In Italian, its identify means “lightning,” in order that’s enjoyable.
Some carmakers, resembling Mercedes-Benz, set their electrical and gasoline-burning fashions aside by lumping the EVs right into a sub-brand and giving them a powertrain-specific design. Maserati sees this strategy as an avenue that’s finest detoured, so the Folgore doesn’t scream, “Hi, folks, look at me: I’m electric!” It appears just about just like the piston-powered Grecale except minor particulars. That is intentional.
“In terms of the shape of the car, we don’t want to change the customer’s perception. Our customers know Maserati as a luxury brand, but we’re also known for Italian design. We don’t want to be generic; we want to be timeless. We don’t want to follow a trend. Our mission is to achieve visual longevity,” Maserati designer Andrea Bruno informed me on the sidelines of the Grecale Folgore launch. “These trends move fast. One month, everyone loves it. The month later, everyone has already forgotten it. We need to do something timeless.”
A few of the visible adjustments made to the Folgore assist enhance driving vary by lowering the drag coefficient. Up entrance, there’s a redesigned grille with a a lot smaller open space. Out again, Maserati added a redesigned air diffuser. Copper-colored accents additionally make the Folgore stand out, and the gasoline-powered mannequin’s three fender-mounted air intakes are stuffed in and fitted with LED lights.
Rame Folgore, a paint colour that adjustments from gray-ish to brown-ish relying on the sunshine that hits it, is EV-specific as properly. It is the colour you are seeing in our gallery, above. Different colours are additionally obtainable. Lastly, new wheel designs starting from 19 to 21 inches have been created for the Folgore.
The inside format stays unchanged. The motive force faces a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that straddles the steering column, and the middle stack is dominated by a pair of touchscreens. On the prime, there’s a 12.3-inch unit that shows the infotainment system, which features a handful of electric-only menus. Beneath it, proper beneath a row of clunky buttons used to pick out Park, Reverse, Impartial, or Drive, there’s an 8.8-inch unit that places the local weather management system’s numerous menus and different miscellaneous options at your fingertips. The cool, smartwatch-like clock stays positioned in the midst of the dashboard as a reminder that Maserati is consistently balancing its heritage and its future.
Copper-colored particulars, together with the stitching and a few of the trim items, denote the Folgore as an electrical mannequin, and the upholstery you sit on might have lived on a fishing boat in one other life. Referred to as Econyl, it’s made utilizing recycled nylon resembling outdated fishing nets, material scraps from mills, and outdated carpet. No, it doesn’t scent like tuna, and no, you possibly can’t inform it was as soon as trash; it manages to feel and look upscale.
Whereas the Folgore rides on an evolution of the Giorgio platform borrowed from sister firm Alfa Romeo, calling it a reskinned Stelvio can be cruelly inaccurate. Maserati made important adjustments to the structure to construct the Grecale on it, and it then made additional modifications to impress it. The subframes are new, for instance, and far of the tuning was completed particularly for the Folgore.
Energy for the Folgore comes from a pair of electrical motors (one per axle) that draw juice from the sizable 105-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack mounted beneath the passenger compartment. The pack is flat fairly than T-shaped just like the GranTurismo Folgore’s as a result of Maserati needed the EV to supply precisely the identical inside area as the usual Grecale – and, to its credit score, it pulled this off. That’s why there’s no frunk; Maserati thought of it however determined there’s loads of area within the trunk, together with a hidden storage compartment under the ground.
The drivetrain delivers everlasting through-the-road all-wheel drive with variable torque distribution, and its complete output checks in at about 550 horsepower and 605 pound-feet of torque. For context, the Grecale Trofeo – essentially the most highly effective gasoline-burning mannequin, with a twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6 – posts numbers of 523 and 457, respectively. On paper, the EV stands proud because the efficiency champion.
On the street, it’s a unique story – get the Trofeo if you need flat-out efficiency. It hits 62 mph from a cease in 3.6 seconds, versus 4.1 seconds for the Folgore. The large distinction in torque between the 2 variants is overshadowed by an excellent greater distinction in weight. Maserati says the battery weighs round 1,500 kilos; that’s like strapping a Citroën 2CV and its driver to the roof of the usual Grecale. The Folgore ideas the size at roughly 5,467 kilos in comparison with 4,629 kilos for the heaviest gasoline-burning trim. We’re approaching Ford F-150 Raptor R turf. This isn’t particular to Maserati: an EV weighs considerably greater than a comparable gasoline-powered mannequin.
Though the GranTurismo Folgore makes use of an 800-volt electrical system, the Grecale is constructed round a 400-volt structure that maxes out at a charging pace of 150 kilowatts. Charging from 20% to 80% can take roughly half an hour in the precise circumstances, and Maserati’s estimated vary utilizing Europe’s WLTP testing cycle stands at between 264 to 311 miles relying on the configuration. EPA estimates can be decrease.
“We envisioned (the Grecale Folgore) as a daily driver. It’s not super sporty (like the GranTurismo Folgore). So, we decided to use a 400-volt system that can charge at up to 150 kilowatts. We think it’s enough for this car,” mentioned Andrea Zizak, the Grecale Folgore’s engineering car line govt. Compared, the GranTurismo Folgore is able to taking charging speeds of as much as 270 kilowatts.
You begin the Folgore by urgent the blue “start engine” button on the steering wheel (regardless of not having an engine), and you set it in Drive by pushing the “D” button on the middle stack. You’d observe precisely the identical sequence in a V6-powered mannequin. The variations finish there, nevertheless. As an alternative of a sonorous six-cylinder you get silence, which is rapidly damaged by a synthetic, engine-like sound that permeates the cabin by way of audio system. Onlookers can hear it, too, because it’s additionally piped by way of exterior audio system, together with two situated beneath the rear bumper. Creating noise for EVs when in movement is a regulation for apparent security causes, however Zizak jokes that “people need to hear you coming when you arrive in a Maserati.”
Like most EVs, particularly on this phase of the market, the Folgore delivers clean, linear, and fast acceleration. An attention-grabbing side-effect of promoting gasoline- and battery-powered variations of the identical mannequin is that the powertrain variations instantly soar out at you. In comparison with even the bottom four-cylinder variant of the Grecale, the Folgore feels much less raucous and rather more laid-back – whether or not that’s an excellent or a nasty factor relies upon largely in your view of Maserati’s picture and the attributes that you just’re on the lookout for in a luxurious SUV.
Maserati saved the gasoline-powered Grecale’s steering and air suspension {hardware} however retuned all of it to take the added weight and the completely different weight distribution into consideration, so in some ways the Folgore delivers acquainted dealing with. It’s comfy, even over tough roads, nevertheless it’s pegged on the sporty facet of the consolation scale. If it have been softer, it wouldn’t really feel like a Maserati – the agency is understood for luxurious however efficiency has all the time been part of its DNA. If it have been extra hardcore, it will doubtless be too harsh for its audience; it is a sporty household automotive, not a jacked-up MC20 constructed to obliterate lap data. It’s markedly extra bottom-heavy than the opposite Grecale variants, so it’s not as mild on its toes on a fast-paced twisty street, and the steering is pleasantly direct nevertheless it doesn’t present quite a lot of suggestions.
Zizak informed me one of many puzzles Maserati’s engineering crew wanted to unravel as they electrified the Grecale was cabin noise. With out an engine buzzing, a refrain of small noises tends to pipe up. Including sound-deadening materials saved many of those sounds quiet, however wind noise – particularly at freeway speeds – stays extra perceptible within the Folgore than in, say, the Trofeo. It’s not dangerous, nevertheless it’s there.
There are 4 drive modes referred to as GT, Sport, Off-Highway and Max Vary. GT is the usual mode; it’s the one you begin off in after the Folgore powers on. Sport sharpens the throttle response, stiffens the suspension, and cranks up the unreal engine sound, whereas Off-Highway dials in further floor clearance to make sure rocks and different obstacles don’t flip the underbody right into a punching bag off-pavement. Max Vary is for these “oh, yikes, we’re going to run out of range” moments. It’s finest used when the battery’s cost falls under 16%, in keeping with Maserati, as a result of it noticeably reigns within the throttle response and limits the local weather management system’s output. It additionally caps the highest pace at 80 mph, although that’s much less of an inconvenience than a lazy accelerator pedal and half-hearted air con.
From the motive force’s seat, the supplies used all through the cabin really feel suitably upmarket to stay as much as the Maserati identify. The model is taking construct high quality severely, and the Grecale is a genuinely good place to journey in. The know-how in all fairness simple to make use of. Even the dual-screen setup isn’t as daunting as it’d initially look. Every part is there whenever you want it, nevertheless it’s not in your face whenever you don’t. Each model of the Grecale nonetheless looks like a automotive fairly than an enormous steel smartphone with wheels and seats. The one exception is the amount slider, which is inconveniently situated on the precise facet of the underside touchscreen, the place it’s a lot nearer to the entrance passenger than to the motive force.
The steering column-mounted shift paddles come from the gasoline-powered Grecale as properly, however within the Folgore they serve a really completely different function: they’re linked to the brake power recuperation system. Dialing within the lowest quantity of regen permits you to coast whenever you raise your foot off of the accelerator, and dialing within the highest quantity of regen makes one-pedal driving potential. Maserati additionally programmed a number of ranges in between, together with a center floor that feels a little bit like an engine brake in a piston-powered automotive. I like this strategy to regen: Present completely different choices and let the motive force (somebody who may be a first-time EV proprietor) attempt all of them earlier than deciding what works finest for them.
It is this line of pondering that finest sums up the Folgore. Put merely, it’s an electrical Grecale.
As a purchaser, crucial alternative it’s essential make is whether or not you need an electrical automotive. Every part else carries over. No matter which powertrain you select, you’re not getting roughly know-how, you’re not getting roughly inside area, and also you’re not getting a drastically completely different design. Even by way of efficiency, the Folgore and the Trofeo roughly land in the identical ballpark.
Due out as a 2025 mannequin, the Folgore can be in-built the identical manufacturing facility close to Rome as the opposite Grecale variants. Pricing data hasn’t been launched but, however Maserati introduced that each buy will embrace a wall-mounted charger and its Public Cost app.