Ferrari‘s first all-electric vehicle is set to debut next year. While specific details are scant, an executive is promising that it’ll make more than just a buzz…literally.
Maranello has of course unleashed an electric car before—the 986-horsepower SF90 Stradale is a plug-in hybrid that runs one of the brand’s famously potent and high-revving V8s, the noise from which is unmistakable. And although it’s difficult such wonderful organic aural sensations borne in an electric powertrain, there might be hope.
“Whenever we talk about a car, we talk about the driving thrills, which is a combination of power, force, weight, brakes [and] sound,” Ferrari marketing director Eamanuele Carando told Drive, per Robb Report.
“[The sound is] always authentic in a Ferrari.”
What “authentic” means in regard to EV sound production is unclear. Ferrari’s website says that its engineers are working on “sound signatures…that will stir emotions and rival that famously produced by its combustion engines.”
Dodge has attempted to inject some classic muscle car vibes into its upcoming Charger EV, which will feature a Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust System that will emit a 126-decibel roar akin to a V8’s. Meanwhile, other automakers like Hyundai have entertained the idea of endowing EVs with artificial engine vibrations and sounds.
But, as Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna alluded to in an interview from early 2024, these cars are in a class of their own, so one would imagine that the noise a Ferrari EV makes would be similarly unique.
“If you know the technology, you know you can do a lot of things also with electric cars,” he said when asked about the sound of an EV,” Vigna said. “When we talk about luxury cars like our cars, we are talking about the emotion that we are able to deliver to our client, so we are not talking about functional cars like other EVs that you see on the road.”
“We have no doubt, honestly, that we can deliver a unique experience to our client because we can harness the technology in a unique way. That’s what our company has been doing since the beginning.”