Ferrari is still working on its first electric vehicle. Unfortunately, though, for buyers eager to get their hands on Maranello’s battery-powered Prancing Horse, the company has delayed that project until 2028, citing ‘zero’ demand. Still, Ferrari appears to be looking for benchmarks for its upcoming electric performance car.
Initially reported by CarNewsChina and brought to our attention by Carscoops, a photographer captured a Chinese Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype leaving Ferrari headquarters in Maranello. The photos were posted on the Chinese social media website Weibo, which you can see below:
Photo by: Weibo / Sago Soup / Piniluoshan
Photo by: Weibo / Sago Soup / Piniluoshan
The SU7 isn’t sold in Italy, and this car doesn’t wear Italian plates. That can only mean that Ferrari imported the EV for some in-depth investigation.
It would make sense. The SU7 Ultra recently became the fastest production EV around the Nürburgring, with a lap time of 6 minutes and 22 seconds. Packing 1,548 horsepower from a tri-motor configuration, the SU7 Ultra races to 62 miles per hour in just 1.98 seconds and has a top speed of 223 miles per hour.
The folks in Maranello are likely hoping for similar numbers from their first EV, which the company says will be extremely limited at launch. The SU7 Ultra features an advanced thermal management system designed for sustained high-speed driving, which is likely something Ferrari executives and engineers are studying closely.
As mentioned, we won’t see Ferrari’s first EV until at least 2028, which means the company has plenty of time still to make sure it lives up to its lofty performance expectations.
Read the full article here