Ferrari Wants to Develop "Electric Supercar"

Green is definitely the new black. And while most of us settle for smart cars and Priuses, some of the more affluent eco-warriors want a pricier symbol of environmental awareness – like a Ferrari. Because what’s more eco-friendly than a car that costs more than most houses?

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne announced at the Detroit Auto Show that Ferrari was stepping into Tesla’s arena with an “electric supercar.”

“If there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first,” Marchionne said. “People are amazed at what Tesla did with a supercar: I’m not trying to minimize what Elon did but I think it’s doable by all of us.”

While details were scarce, Ferrari’s electric roadster will almost certainly demolish Tesla in one area – cost. The 2011 Tesla Roadster (one year before its demise) had an MSRP from $109,000 to $128,500 – the average Ferrari is double. But when money is no object, you can’t put a price on saving the environment (except for dealers – they definitely can).

It’s also a tad hypocritical for Ferrari – which previously stuck to a 10,000-car sales limit to skirt fuel-economy rules – to suddenly preach environmentalism.

According to Bloomberg, Marchionne predicted that by 2025, less than 50% of all cars sold would have internal combustion engines. This dovetails nicely with competitors’ heavy investment in hybrid and electric technology by the 2020s (including Tesla’s Roadster follow-up).  

Though Volkswagen’s electric hippiemobile will probably target a slightly different crowd than Ferrari....