Maserati Ghibli Hybrid: Road testing first electrified vehicle in Italian car manufacturer's history
18 April, 2021
For luxury car fans, Maserati is probably the ultimate impulse buy. They sell because buyers want a Maserati rather than because they need a new car.
But Maserati realised practically ten years ago that things had a need to change, therefore came SUVs, diesels for Europe, a mid-sized saloon in the kind of Ghibli and today a four-cylinder, hybrid to be accompanied by full electrification.
Maserati evolution
Back 2012, Maserati sold 6,000 cars, so when the business said it wanted 50,000 sales, frankly no person believed them. In 2013, the quantity was 22,500 and rose to 36,448 in 2014 before passing its lofty target with 51,000 units in 2017.
However the euphoria didn’t last, and it’s been a bumpy downhill ride since as the business transitions into developing a full electric car, spending millions revamping Fiat’s Mirafiori plant to produce the Levant SUV and the Avvocato Giovanni Agnelli Plant, both in Turin for the Ghibli Hybrid just as Covid-19 shut the world’s car factories last year.
Now, Maserati has planned to avoid the slide with up to 10 new models to be released over 3 years that will are the Levante SUV hybrid, the 600bhp, mid-engined, V6 turbo hybrid MC20 supercar and its own first all-electric car, the replacement to the GranTurismo and GranCabrio coupes all prior to the end of 2021.
If everything works, Maserati’s electrification renaissance should triple its sales from 2019 and it all starts with this car: the Ghibli Hybrid.
Electrifying the Ghibli
Maserati has sold a lot more than 100,000 Ghiblis since 2013, which makes it the most successful model in its history and the Hybrid replaces the V6 diesel in Europe which is significant because while Ghibli introduced an enormous new audience to Maserati, the diesel represented 80 % of these Euro sales.
That one however mixes a turbocharged, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine from Alfa Romeo with a 48V mild-hybrid system to provide a combined 325bhp and 450Nm from just 1500rpm. It’s a rear-wheel drive and runs through an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Maserati says it gives diesel-like fuel economy of 8.5L/100kms and will be offering V6-petrol performance of 5.7 seconds from 0 to 100kph and a 255kph top speed with 25 % fewer emissions and carrying 80kg significantly less than the diesel.
Unlike some of its competitors, this is simply not a Plug-In Hybrid as Maserati says the weight penalty of experiencing to transport a bigger battery to acquire a maximum 50km of electric running didn’t seem sensible.
Instead, it’s matched to a 48V belt-driven alternator, which doubles as the starter and in addition acts as a generator under coasting and braking to recover energy to charge a boot-mounted battery. This battery then powers a power supercharger to fill in the torque gaps before the turbo spools up.
Everything is done seamlessly without the driver knowing what’s going on underneath, so that it feels and drives such as a very powerful four-cylinder turbo and unlike other hybrids, the petrol motor always runs, sipping minimal amounts of petrol.
Emotional appeal
All well and good, but does all this technology tick the emotive box that’s so very important to traditional Maserati owners? Nearly.
The Ghibli Hybrid represents the compromise car enthusiasts need to make in age chasing zero-emission figures.
You get the badge, the heritage, the spectacular leather-clad interior, the “Italianess” and the performance but at the trouble of a spine-tingling exhaust note.
Sadly there’s not a raspy, AMG-like 4-cylinder buzz found, it’s as quiet as an Uber limousine even when pushed hard, so although it ticks all of the above boxes, it’s the first Maserati I’ve driven to elicit zero heartstring emotions.
Sad but true, although upside is that if you’re a user-chooser sales rep, it will also be the first Maserati your accountant will approve as a company car.
Hybrid touches
A few hints will let you know it is the Hybrid version including the iconic side vents that are actually blue-tinted plus a blue thunderbolt in the badge on the C-Pillar to complement the blue brake callipers, while in the leather features blue stitching and embroidery throughout.
The interior is sensational with a much-needed upgrade to the infotainment system that now has wireless charging for your phone including Android and includes a faster 10.1-inch, high-definition screen instead of the prior 8.4-inch unit with the most recent graphics and is more user-friendly, even offering voice commands on some functions.
As reduced luxury European performance saloon the Ghibli Hybrid wins on many levels, not least it’s doing this while reducing emissions but as a Maserati, it misses the important touchpoint of emotion from under the hood.
Though if 80 % of European Ghibli buyers chosen the diesel, then evidently I’m the one wearing the rose-tinted glasses and in the minority of folks wanting a bit of new-age Italian exotica. Thankfully, I don’t run the automobile company.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com