Electric Supercars

[drewf]

It seems Aston Martin are considering a mighty piece of electrickery.

Now, if you read the article, there's an explanation of why this might be a Good Thing. Consider that manufacturers have to meet an emissions average for their entire fleet. This is plenty easy if you are part of the Ford/Nissan/VW-Audi group, but rather less so if you have based your model range on feck-off V8s or V12s, producing vast noise and power, but not a lot of ultra low emissions. I like the way this chap is thinking - build a silent, electric 1000hp car, and be able to keep the less efficient petrol engines too. Or go under...

Should Maserati go down this route - discuss.

 

[Trev Latter]

Heart says no because of being a petrol head, but in all honesty, the answer should be yes. I suppose the question is whether Maserati will sell enough cars to make the investment worthwhile. I sincerely hope they will, but it could be a nail in the coffin for a fantastic marque if they don't.

 

[Contigo]

Aston Martin go down this route with the Cygnet so it is nothing new. Depends on whether it is legislated or not should Maserati be forced into it. I should imagine with the Ghibli Diesel units and greener petrol V6's this won't affect the Trident house in the same way.

 

[drewf]

True, it won't be quite as pressing for Maserati with the limp-wristed small V6 engines, but that's not the point.

IF they made say an electric Quattroporte, with again say an 800hp power equivalence, would it be a bad car? Very fast, very quiet... And by making that zero-emissions car, they wouldn't have to rely on low(ish) emissions from the Ghibli. It would mean being able to keep the V8 in cars like the Alfieri, and what's more, with increased power, since they would be balancing emissions over the entire model range.

 

[Contigo]

Agreed, it's not necessarily a bad thing in one respect but think of the development costs!!!

 

[alfatwo]

Trouble is they don't take into account the Co used to charge the things...which may take hours,of course this will come eventually in the way of heavy taxation

I'm sure our friends in Brussels have got this stuff all sorted for the future

Dave

 

[Doohickey]

Do Maserati get the benefit of being part of the Fiat group and therefore are under less pressure to reduce CO emissions than Aston? In any event, an electric QP would be interesting and a good way to deal with the emissions problem but the development costs could bankrupt the company. Presumably, Aston is using Mercedes' knowledge to help them.

 

[Contigo]

Do Maserati get the benefit of being part of the Fiat group and therefore are under less pressure to reduce CO emissions than Aston?

If they’re part of a bigger group, their fleet figure can be calculated as part of the parent. So yes Maserati are not in any pressure to comply to legislation.

 

[zagatoes30]

Totally see this as a way to go and smaller manufacturers may be forced to bring down their overall emissions but to me part of the enjoyment of driving is the aural experience. I like the sounds my car makes as much as the way it performs. The SZ will never be the fastest thing on the road but the sound it's V6 makes is intoxicating as good as Masers V8 in a different way. Please don't ask me to choose on here you might not like the decision.

 

[Contigo]

Indeed Silent Supercars are absolutely pointless, it is the whole package that makes them what they are.

 

[AlfamanSZ]

Totally see this as a way to go and smaller manufacturers may be forced to bring down their overall emissions but to me part of the enjoyment of driving is the aural experience. I like the sounds my car makes as much as the way it performs. The SZ will never be the fastest thing on the road but the sound it's V6 makes is intoxicating as good as Masers V8 in a different way. Please don't ask me to choose on here you might not like the decision.

I know what you mean............

 

[BennyD]

Isn't it great that all our opinions differ.

 

[Classico]

I like what Ferrari and others have done with a combined electric/big kw petrol engine.

The La Ferrari style solution appeals to me most. And IMO, would be logical given continued shared tech. with its sister company wouldn't be a problem.

Switch to electric in the city.

Turn over to a howling combustion V8 on the highway or whenever you fancy hearing that glorious sound.

 

[GTMalc]

Do Maserati get the benefit of being part of the Fiat group and therefore are under less pressure to reduce CO emissions than Aston? In any event, an electric QP would be interesting and a good way to deal with the emissions problem but the development costs could bankrupt the company. Presumably, Aston is using Mercedes' knowledge to help them.

I understood that, hence Ferrari not really doing anything different. However Ferrari will this year no longer be part of Fiat since Marchionne is selling it.

I wondered about Aston Martin and that Smart car or Aygo whatever it was. If like Maserati and Ferrari they were part of a bigger group (was it Ford then?) then why did they do that? Maybe it was after Ford sold them?

 

[Doohickey]

I like what Ferrari and others have done with a combined electric/big kw petrol engine.

The La Ferrari style solution appeals to me most. And IMO, would be logical given continued shared tech. with its sister company wouldn't be a problem.

Switch to electric in the city.

Turn over to a howling combustion V8 on the highway or whenever you fancy hearing that glorious sound.

If I understand how it works correctly, the Ferrari uses the electric motors to boost the power and you can't run it in EV mode alone. I think the P1 and the 918 operate as you suggest.

 

[zagatoes30]

I thought Aston only went the Cygnet route after Ford had sold them to Dave Richards consortium as they no longer had Ford to comply with EU regs