Let’s go through the headlines. There are two important ones. The GranCabrio Folgore is the first all-electric convertible in the luxury segment. It’s also the fastest all-electric convertible, although headline two is clearly related to headline one.
So it’s a convertible. And an electric one.
Indeed. Although Maserati will still sell you one with an internal combustion engine, there was also a very lightly modified version of the 3.0-litre twin turbo ‘Nettuno’ (Neptune – Trident, darn?) that had such a dazzling effect in the MC20. A convertible version of a car that TG.com was extremely impressed with. Now we can find out whether removing the roof enhances or detracts from Maserati’s impressive work to date.
NB: After driving the Grecale Folgore, we noted with interest that some online commentators were whining that Maserati was a brand that had no reason to exist in 2024. Well, there’s no need for rose-colored romance here: the GranTurismo is simply bloody Good.
Good to hear. We like the A6 GCS and 1500. And the Ghibli, Merak and Bora. Even the nineties Quattroporte. And that really was not very good…
But it did have a notable role as the villain’s wheels in the most recent Bond film. As for the A6 1500, Maserati claims it was the first ‘grand tourer’, the automotive idiom into which the GranCabrio glides elegantly. Since it is the soft top version of the GranTurismo.
The original A6 was launched in 1947 and since then Maserati has perhaps contributed more to the idea of glamorous long-distance motoring than any other brand. Not least because cars like the 1957-’64 3500 GT almost single-handedly kept the Italian bodywork industry going; Allemano, Bertone, Frua, Pininfarina, Touring and Vignale all got to work. The Mistral was also beautiful, although the Giugiaro-designed Ghibli Spyder is probably the definitive Maserati convertible. Until now.
Yes. Back to 2024, please. How do you like the GranCabrio in real life?
It looks pretty much as you’d expect. The coupe version deliberately stuck close to the design language of its predecessor, and perhaps played it a little too safe. The engine packaging is one explanation for that, although the V6 is actually quite compact. The stylistic conservatism has more to do with the fact that Maserati is still emerging from the brand’s rehabilitation, and a hugely dodgy new GT wouldn’t land with its customer base. “It was decided to maintain continuity with the design of the previous generation, which was widely appreciated by customers,” says Maserati.
Actually, the new GranCabrio walks this fine line more successfully than the coupe. The vertical headlights are the most noticeable difference, but the somewhat overdone look of the old car is gone. The new GranCabrio has curves in all the right places and the one-piece ‘cofango’ – it’s a combination of coffee (hood) and parafango (fender or wing, for British readers) – is an impressive sculpture. Unlike some convertibles, it works both with the top up and the top down.
We see the fabric roof.
Yes, the retractable hardtop is as trendy right now as yesterday’s Pret cheese and pickle sandwich, possibly for packaging reasons, but more likely for aesthetic reasons. Large convertibles also simply look better with canvas roofs. It is available here in five colors: black, navy blue, titanium gray, greige and granata. (If you have a moment, it’s worth heading to Maserati’s online configurator. Among the 26 Fuoriserie colors available you’ll find a textured Powder Nude, a Hypergreen or an Azzurro Astro Matte – each costs £29,160. Oh dear.)
The roof itself can be operated at speeds of up to 31 mph, and opens in 14 seconds and closes in 16, with a swipe of the central display. There’s still room in the boot for some luggage even with the roof up, but not much.
A neck warmer blows warm air out of the seat, with a choice of three intensity levels. A wind stopper is an optional extra and fits behind the front seats to improve thermal comfort for the occupants there. Unless you are travelling with four people, in which case the comfort of the occupants in the back seat is entrusted to the alternative means of transport they have chosen, which is probably not bus number 19.
What about the Folgore?
Maserati is – perhaps surprisingly given its heritage – betting big on electric propulsion. We liked the Grecale Folgore, but you could argue that the GranCabrio is a more apt advertisement for the refined kind of travel a luxury EV can offer. Albeit one that recasts your concept of grand touring onto distances with a slightly more limited range. It’s about refinement, right? And a sense of occasion, rather than covering 840 miles in a diesel passenger car.
While the Nettuno engine of the GranCabrio Trofeo produces 542 hp here, the Folgore produces 750 hp. It actually has three electric motors, two at the rear and one at the front, each producing 400 horsepower. The inverter and battery can’t handle the theoretical 1,200 horsepower, but you’d have to be a little power crazy and a little warped to have a problem with the 750.
The new GranTurismo/Cabrio uses a modular chassis that was designed from the outset to run either an internal combustion or electric powertrain. It is made of 65 percent aluminum, with the remainder being high-tensile steel in structurally sensitive areas of the car. In the Folgore, the 92.5 kWh (83 kWh usable) battery pack is configured to mimic the layout of the gasoline engine. It is in a ‘T’ shape, positioned across the front of the car, in front of the driver and then inside the transmission tunnel. This is clever packaging and ensures that the interior space is identical to the ICE version, including that spacious rear seat. Maserati says its experience in Formula E has informed the technology, including the use of silicon carbides.
It also improves the center of gravity for improved agility, and means the low-slung GT can stay low, er, swinging. It’s 1,353mm tall and, Maserati says, sits lower than any other electric car on sale. Maserati also claims that the GranCabrio has a 50:50 weight distribution. The Folgore convertible is only 80 kg heavier than its coupe equivalent, i.e. 2,340 kg. Sturdy. It also claims to have a range of 280 miles WLTP, which translates to 3.4 miles/kWh. We suspect that’s only possible if you drive this high-performance GT convertible in the manner of a Fiat 500e with a Fabergé egg in a bowl on the hood.
The system has an 800V architecture, so if you can find a 350kW charger you should be able to pack 100 miles of range into it in 10 minutes. This is still a fantasy at the moment, but it will look good when you write it down.
Maserati has stated that it wants to close the gap between petrol and electric cars, but before we tried the GranCabrio in Trofeo and Folgore guises, we had put money into the combustion car to spend ways on the electric car. How could an Italian sports car live without explosive internal combustion?
So we’re happy to say that in this case the electrified car gets the honors. To be clear, they’re both elegant, refined and comfortable cars in the old-school GT tradition, but with seriously sharp dynamics and plentiful character. That the Folgore manages its extra mass so deftly is perhaps the biggest surprise here, and considering it’s currently the only high-end electric convertible, it has bragging rights there too.
The GranCabrio is just as attractive and well-designed as its coupe brother, but has extra cachet as a convertible.