Maserati to electrify

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boss Sergio Marchionne has given the biggest hint yet that premium Italian sports car brand Maserati will enter the blossoming Formula E racing series after confirming that, like Volvo, every new Maserati launched from 2019 will use some kind of electrification in its powertrain.

Marchionne told an investors’ conference call this week that Maserati will spearhead the push towards electric cars for all FCA brands, switching almost all of its development resources towards electric cars.

The 65-year-old, who will retire at the end of 2019, said that after releasing its next two models – expected to be replacements for the recently updated GranTurismo coupe and GranCabrio convertible -- Maserati would switch almost all of its powertrain development resources to electrification.

Machionne promised that more than half of FCA’s cars and pick-ups would be electrified (with either mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid or battery-electric) by 2022.

He also admitted the 2014 Alfieri concept car had been delayed to turn it from a loud V8 to a full battery-electric, two-seat sports car in 2020.

Maserati’s first electrified car will be a plug-in hybrid version of the Levante as part of its 2019 facelift, with the chassis and powertrain layout already pre-engineered for the change.

Maserati’s (and Alfa Romeo’s) development boss, Roberto Fedeli, is an ex-Ferrari engineering guru whose last job was developing the chassis and powertrain architecture for BMW’s next i models.

Marchionne, who has stymied Maserati’s racing ambitions before, ruled Ferrari out of Formula E and suggested either Alfa Romeo or Maserati would be more likely starters.

“In the wider sense of what we do with cars between Maserati, Alfa and Ferrari, we are looking at this with interest. Maybe with one of the others -- not Fiat -- but Alfa or Maserati,” he said after the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Marchionne’s electrification plans for Maserati make it the most likely FCA brand to enter the all-electric open-wheeler category.

A move by Maserati or Alfa Romeo into Formula E would be yet another boost to the category, which saw former Ferrari Formula 1 test driver Lucas di Grassi crowned as champion last weekend.

Already boasting China’s NextEV Nio and Faraday Future, plus Renault, DS, Jaguar, Mahindra and teams supported by Audi Sport and BMW, Formula E has recently seen Mercedes-Benz choose it over its beloved DTM formula and Porsche move across from its Le Mans-winning World Endurance Championship effort.