STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Fans of Ferrari cars are not sure what to make of the brand-new electric Ferrari. One of Ferrari's gas-powered sports cars sounds like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF FERRARI ENGINE REVVING)
INSKEEP: And the new Ferrari EV, which would normally run very silently, tries to mimic that roar, with the sound amplified so you hear this.
(SOUNDBITE OF FAKE ENGINE NOISE)
INSKEEP: Does that sound like something people will pay $600,000 for? Mack Hogan is covering this story. He's the interim editor in chief at InsideEVs. Welcome.
MACK HOGAN: Thank you very much. Glad to be here.
INSKEEP: Is this right - people seem to have hated the car's unveiling so much that Ferrari stock prices went down?
HOGAN: Yeah. I mean, it's been pretty - controversial might not even be the right word because there's not a lot of people cheering it on. But across the spectrum of EV enthusiasts and traditional car enthusiasts, people seem a little upset, not just about the sound but really the design where this - it's a relatively large-looking four-door sedan.
INSKEEP: OK. So that explains the stock price going down, fans not liking it. What is the challenge for pitching an EV to this particular market - super high-end cars?
HOGAN: Yeah. I mean, they're dream cars, right? So one of the big challenges is that people who are buying, you know, $600,000 cars typically have dreamed about these cars for 10, 20, 30 years. They had posters on them on the wall, and this doesn't look anything like that. It's not going to drive anything like that. It's a totally different, you know, type of product. And that's why, you know, Lamborghini has pulled back their EV ambitions. A lot of these sports car companies are dialing it back. And that's why Ferrari told me that they have decided to do a four-door Grand Tourer rather than one of their traditional two-door supercars, because the technology just isn't ready for that. So yeah. They're going to have a challenge.
INSKEEP: Have they figured out who this car is for, then?
HOGAN: Well, what they say is that it's for Ferrari owners. You know, one of...
INSKEEP: OK.
HOGAN: ...The benefits of selling to that crowd is that you know they are going to have multiple cars. So you already have your Ferrari sports car for the racetrack, and this is supposed to take you on your grand tours and into, you know, maybe European cities that have emissions regulations that prevent pure gas-powered vehicles from going into the downtowns.
INSKEEP: You know, I want to note - electric motors for cars are pretty strong and they've got great acceleration, better than gas in many cases. But is there something about an electric motor that just doesn't work for sports cars - certain kinds of vehicles, including sports cars?
HOGAN: I don't know if it's anything with the electric motors as much as the electric batteries. Batteries are really heavy. This car weighs nearly 5,000 pounds, and weight is just the enemy of having a really fun driving experience. And like we noted about the sound, you know, a big thing is the drama. People expect a car to feel theatrical and very exciting, and you feel those vibrations. And you don't get that in an electric car. They're silent. They're very fast, but that's about the main trick.
INSKEEP: Is there some connection between this problem with sports cars and the problem with electric trucks, where it also doesn't seem to work for a lot of consumers?
HOGAN: Yeah. I think - you know, I've long said these are the two markets where it's just going to take a long time, both because you have consumers who are a little more resistant to the technology in both markets and then also, you just have specific challenges of the weight in terms of the performance cars. And then in trucks, it's just the cost factor. Batteries are really heavy. And the bigger the vehicle, the more energy you spend lugging that battery around, which drives up your cost. And it makes it really hard to compete, so it's going to be a while before either of these markets fully electrify.
INSKEEP: Mack Hogan with InsideEVs. Hope you get a chance to drive one of those Ferraris soon.
HOGAN: Me too.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMMY GUERRERO'S "THE SPIRIT FORM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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