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Hybrids, for a long time, were synonymous with everything that isn't fun about driving--commutes, traffic, gas mileage, and penny pinching. Lately, they've taken on a new high-performance sheen, perhaps nowhere as much so as at Ferrari.
The LaFerrari hypercar is, put simply, obscene in its perversion of hybrid technology. We love it. It's a 708kW, no-all-electric-mode, sub-three-second-to-100km/h, more than 350-km/h-top-speed, this-clearly-isn't-about-saving-the-planet hybrid. But don't call it an electric car, or Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo might get a bit cross with you.
Why? According to Bloomberg, di Montezemolo doesn't believe in electric cars. Presumably, that means he finds them unsuitable to Ferrari's mission of exclusive performance rather than merely unsuitable for reality.
With examples like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive out setting sub-8-minute Nordschleife laps, it's clear EVs can be made quick, if not quite truly fast, but then you'd expect it of a 560kW/1000Nm supercar, whatever fuel delivers that power.
Unfortunately, the maximum range of the (roughly) US$550,000 SLS AMG Electric Drive is just 250km even with much more temperate use, and it takes about 20 hours to charge without the optional quick charger. Perhaps that's what di Montezemolo is talking about.
Ferrari, meanwhile, is already joined at the upper end of the exotic hybrid segment with the McLaren P1 knocking out similar acceleration and top speed figures, despite sporting just 673kW, and the Porsche 918 Spyder making do with 653kW yet still achieving similar performance.
Whose machine will reign supreme? Allez hybrids!
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