Ferrari to Pitch Half-Million Dollar BEV, Source Claims

Ferrari’s first battery-electric vehicle model could have a starting price of more than half a million bucks that will come as a bolt from the blue even for the brand’s super-rich clientele.

That’s the claim of a source quoted by the Reuters news agency as Ferrari is about the open a new plant to build the car and to increase the automaker’s production capacity by up to 33%.

How its customers will view the eye-watering €500,000 ($535,000) price tag for a BEV, at a time when demand for the vehicles is slowing in many major markets, is yet to be seen. On top of this, company executives openly admit that most of their customers want roaring internal-combustion-engine powertrains in keeping with the brand’s long tradition.

Ferrari’s new plant is due to be inaugurated Friday in its Maranello home and said to be able to raise overall annual production to 20,000, according to the agency’s source. The source adds that the plant gives the automaker an additional vehicle assembly line constructing gasoline and hybrid cars on top of the BEV, plus components for electrified powertrains and will be fully operational in three to four months.

Reuters’ source also says a second BEV model is also under development. Ferrari has yet to respond to the claims.