Ferrari to Design Electric Supercar to Compete With Tesla

Tesla’s announced new-and-improved roadster has upped-the-ante for manufacturers creating legitimate electric hypercars. Its absurd acceleration stats, coupled with an electric drivetrain, could put pressure on other builders to try and compete in the same space.

It seems, despite a lot of reluctance on their CEO’s part, that Ferrari will indeed be stepping into the ring with Tesla’s Roadster soon with their own electric model.

There haven’t been any details released about the specifications of Ferrari’s electric model, but since Tesla has set the bar, expect Ferrari to use that as their yardstick during development. They have already dabbled in hybrid drivetrains, though, as showcased in the LaFerrari Hypercar (pictured above), so the Italian company should make the transition to full-electric rather smoothly.

The company’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, had previously, and quite infamously, asked prospective customers of the brands he manages (Fiat, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, and Jeep) not to buy the Fiat 500e electric car because of how unprofitable it is to produce. He seems to view the electric car demand as a burden on auto-manufacturers and believes that they’re a waste of time.

Due to the overwhelming pressure on the automotive industry to develop cleaner cars with lowered (or non-existent) emissions, it seems like even notoriously innovation-shy brands like Ferrari are being forced into seriously considering electric drivetrains going forward.

It seems like electric cars are an inevitable reality for the automotive industry going forward, so brands like Ferrari will have to step up their development if they’re going to catch disruptors like Tesla.