Ferrari Will Never Go Fully Electric

Ferrari is reaffirming its love for internal combustion even as much of the rest of the motoring world heads in the opposite direction, with CEO Louis Camilleri remarking this week that he doesn't see the company ever switching entirely over to electric propulsion.

On an earnings call with investors and members of the press on Tuesday, Camilleri said he "really [doesn't] see Ferrari ever being at one hundred percent EV and certainly not in my lifetime will reach even fifty percent." That's maybe not the most surprising stance; just a few years ago, the idea that Ferrari would ever make a single battery-electric car was virtually unthinkable.

Of course, Ferrari has since announced its intention to produce a pure-electric vehicle by the year 2030, but the Italian supercar manufacturer is much more interested in hybrid power for the time being. Just last year, Ferrari pulled the wraps off its first series production plug-in hybrid, theFerrari SF90 Stradale, and the company is aiming to have sixty percent of its new carsbe hybrids by 2022.

Historically, Ferrari has traded on its race car engineering prowess and the strong emotional responses elicited by its loud, high-revving internal combustion engines to seduce well-heeled buyers, so sticking with hybrid power for the time being certainly plays to the company's strengths.