While naturally the big car manufacturers are busy filling their electric ranks with crossovers, sedans, or mini-vans - the relatively niche sports and GT car market remains relatively devoid of electric alternatives. So out of all the big players, it was Maserati that was among the first to step in and introduce an electric GT car. This happened last year with the Folgore (lightning in Italian) version of the GranTurismo. Now it presents the GranCabrio Folgore, the electric version of the GranCabrio. And while Mini had an electric version of the Cabriolet, Fiat has the open 500e - not really sports cars and Fiat is not really completely open. What about the MG Cyberster? This is a Roadster, meaning a smaller, two-seater open car.
Like the Folgore version of the GranTurismo, it uses the same mechanical base. This means three electric motors, two in the back and one in the front. In principle, in terms of the motors themselves, each of them has about 400 horsepower, which means about 1,200 horsepower in total. However, the battery is not able to provide enough power to supply all of them, to the most 818 horsepower and even that for a short period called "MaxBoost" and for the rest of the time the motors provide 751 horsepower.
In order to preserve the low-slung structure of its sports car, Maserati uses a battery array arranged in a T shape, as opposed to the more common solution of a battery pack under the car's floor. The battery itself has a capacity of 92.5 kWh, with 83 kWh available for propulsion. The claimed range is 450 km and the car will support fast DC charging at a rate of up to 270 kW, meaning a 20% to 80% charge in 18 minutes.
Official performance figures have not been published, but since it is mechanically identical to the closed version, they can be used as a basis. It is said to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 320 km/h. However, the additional weight of the reinforced structure in the roofless car may add tenths and subtract km/h. The challenge is not simple when the starting point is the 2,260 kg of the closed GranTurismo.
As an open GT car, the GranCabrio uses components that are intended to provide it with the required characteristics of such a car - the suspension setup includes double wishbones at the front and a multi-link rear suspension. It is reasonable to assume that between them and the body, as in the GranTurismo, there are also air springs and brakes with 380 mm discs at the front and 350 mm at the rear, with six or four-piston calipers respectively.
Price? This is not an electric car that is bought to save money, and it starts in the showroom. Expect to pay around NIS 1.2M for it.