New or classic, two-door or four, gas-burning or electric, there are certain things that a Maserati-badged vehicle must do. It must be beautiful, it must be uncommon, it must be idiosyncratic, it must be fast, and it must exhibit exceptional handling character on compelling roads.
The challenge for the 2024 Maserati GranTurismo Folgore – “folgore” meaning “lightning” in Italian, as well as the weird-to-pronounce new sub-brand for all Maserati electric vehicles – is how to avoid the one common flaw in EV performance vehicles: homogeneity.
Managing Editor Brandon Turkus said it as well as I could hope to, in his recent review of the 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS.
“First, all electric motors accelerate cars from all brands in the same way. And while that immediate torque is delightful, the intensity is all that changes – the overall experience, regardless of brand, is relentlessly linear and, therefore, one-dimensional.”
For Maserati, a tiny brand sitting atop the Stellantis portfolio like a trident-shaped crown, creating a “one-dimensional” experience for its first EV, in its most storied and important vehicle nameplate, simply wouldn’t do. Thankfully, because of a cleverly shaped battery back, a no-holds-barred approach to drive mode modulation, an Italian approach to chassis and suspension tuning, and a dash of magic, this little lightning bolt is anything but homogenous.
Most of today’s electric vehicles that boast either high performance, long range, or both, accept the compromise of putting a large, flat battery pack under much of the floor of the vehicle. More cells, more juice, more range.
The downside to that strategy is, of course, weight, but also distribution of that weight out to the all-important corners of the vehicle. Big-battery EVs feel amazingly stable at high speeds in a straight line; some, like the Lucid Air, also manage to feel pretty good at quick speeds on curvy roads. Very few, this new Maser now among them, feel light and magically agile mid-corner, when pushing hard.
At nearly 5,000 pounds, the GranTurismo Folgore is not a lightweight thing, but it does have the distinct advantage of a T-shaped battery pack. With the mass of that 92.5 kilowatt-hour (84 kWh usable) battery confined to the center and rear of the vehicle – you know, like a race car – a whole world of precise and subtle handling opens up. Putting the center of mass in the center of the vehicle turns out to be a great idea.
I was lucky enough to drive this early Folgore on the excellent country roads north of Rome, directly after hours behind the wheel of the new, gas-engined GranTurismo. I was shocked to find that the GT EV mimicked the way in which its ICE counterpart joyfully turned in, was correctable mid-corner, and generally excelled at dancing around a bend rather than simply powering through.
Steering feel isn’t overwhelming here but there’s enough information about the grip coming from the front to keep you pushing and smiling. Short of Porsche’s incredibly nimble Taycan, this might be the new standard bearer for enthusiastic EV driving.
