Italian luxury sports car maker Ferrari has just announced plans to enable its first electric vehicle to produce “authentic” noise when it arrives in 2025.
Ferrari reimagines sound for the electric age
While several electric vehicles, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, produce fake combustion engine sounds, Ferrari is planning to deliver its inaugural offering with an authentic noise.
Ferrari Product Marketing and Marketing Intelligence Director Emanuele Carando recently had an exclusive interview with Australia’s Drive magazine. He emphasized that the “[the sound is] always authentic in a Ferrari.
“I think you need to wait a little bit longer. But I can tell you the new electric Ferrari vehicle is going to be a true Ferrari. All our cars are different cars for different Ferraristi, and different Ferrari for different moments. So the new electric vehicle will deliver different emotions versus the SF90, versus the Purosangue, versus the Roma, or versus the 12Cilindri.”
Ferrari Product Marketing and Marketing Intelligence Director Emanuele Carando
Considering that electric vehicles do not have combustion engines, the noise Ferrari’s upcoming EV will produce remains vague.
To think of it, the Ferrari EV can only make an “authentic” noise if the automaker refers to the electric motor’s sound.
While Ferrari engineers could intensify the noise through speakers, it would no longer be 100% authentic.
Focusing on driver experience beyond performance
Ferrari plans to introduce its first electric vehicle offering in 2025.
According to the Italian automaker, the upcoming model will not depend solely on fast acceleration and will not be silent like most electric vehicles on the market.
Nonetheless, the yet-to-be-named EV’s launch will not mark the end for the iconic petrol and hybrid Ferraris.
“We have never been following speed as a key reason for [marketing] our cars. In the 1980s when you were reading the car magazines, you were seeing the [top] speed [as the main attribute]. Then in the 1990s we were talking about horsepower. Now it’s more weight to power. Whenever we talk about a car, we talk about the driving thrills, which is a combination of power, force, weight, brakes [and] sound.”
Ferrari Product Marketing and Marketing Intelligence Director Emanuele Carando
Carando further asserted that a car’s top speed is “something you cannot really enjoy.”
“The 0-100km/h, 0-200km/h, after you do [these] a couple of times … you got this gut into your mouth [feeling], you’re fed up with it. We want to have a fast, agile, fun car to drive.”
Ferrari Product Marketing and Marketing Intelligence Director Emanuele Carando
The company executive also emphasized the brand’s greater interest in “the smile the clients have whenever they drive our car,” in addition to more scientific indicators like performance and grip.
“There is a more scientific and engineering approach, which is longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, braking, gear shifting and sound. Those five elements are the most important elements we evaluate and we build together to develop our cars. Talking about the electric vehicles, we might have other components which add up to this one here.”
Ferrari Product Marketing and Marketing Intelligence Director Emanuele Carando
EV production and sales targets
Ferrari aims to kick off the production of its inaugural electric car in its new factory in Maranello, Italy, next year.
It expects electric vehicles to account for at least 5% of its overall vehicle sales by 2026, marking the brand’s first full year in the electric vehicle space.
By the end of the decade, it aims to increase the share of its electric and hybrid modes to 40% of its overall annual vehicle sales.
This major pivot to electric propulsion will significantly redefine the Ferrari experience while still preserving the brand’s iconic legacy.
