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Challenging Tesla, Ferrari Will Build An Electric Sportscar -- and an SUV (theverge.com)
Long-time Slashdot reader Kant shared an article from The Verge:
Ferrari will build a battery-electric supercar in a bid to challenge Tesla for a piece of the high-end, eco-conscious luxury market. CEO Sergio Marchionne, who also heads Fiat Chrysler, said that the Italian racecar company would also make a Ferrari SUV -- after previously dismissing the idea as ridiculous. Speaking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Marchionne didn't offer any specifics on the electric Ferrari, but indicated the company would release it before the Tesla Roadster hits the road in 2020.
"If there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first," Marchionne said, according to Bloomberg. "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."
BMW and Porsche also have plans to introduce all-electric supercars, and Marchionne says "I don't know of a [business] that is making money selling electric vehicles unless you are selling them at the very, very high end of the spectrum."
His remarks were also "a significant departure" from comments made in 2016 about the Ferrari SUV: 'You have to shoot me first.'"
"If there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first," Marchionne said, according to Bloomberg. "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."
BMW and Porsche also have plans to introduce all-electric supercars, and Marchionne says "I don't know of a [business] that is making money selling electric vehicles unless you are selling them at the very, very high end of the spectrum."
His remarks were also "a significant departure" from comments made in 2016 about the Ferrari SUV: 'You have to shoot me first.'"
That distinction goes to the Rimac Concept One
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
"Straight line acceleration is only a very small consideration for performance. Could a Tesla S beat a Ferrari around a track?"
Straight line accel wasn't a problem until Tesla came along :-D
No, a Model S isn't made for the track unlike many performance sedans - it needs to have more cooling and to give the option to turn off regen or dial it down more as that heats up the pack too quickly under the kind of frequent braking needed on a demanding road course.
"I don't think anyone knows because EVs tend to overheat and turn off performance on any track actually designed to test a vehicle such as Nübergring"
Whoa, let's not jump to conclusions. You can't simply lump all EVs into this basket because the most common ones aren't designed for a famous track. FYI, Teslas and others do very well on shorter courses.
The Green Hell is a special case.
That said, the NextEV NIO EP9, a pure battery electric that uses on *air* cooling for the battery pack took on the Nurburgring and shaved almost 2 full seconds off the (then) production vehicle record time that had stood since 2010 when set by the Pagani Zonda.
I expect the Rimac Concept One which has considerably better cooling than the Model S would also perform respectably around the 'ring.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body