THE RIVALS
at the beginning of the year but not the Trofeo version which uses the twin-turbo V6 engine from the MC20 supercar but a four-cylinder 2.0-litre.
That car impressed with its cabin, which featured red leather and open grain wood trim. Very plush and classy.
Our electric Grecale doesn’t have such an appealing interior colour scheme but presumably that could be rectified at the personalising configurator stage.
That said, you’d want to be careful adding optional extras as its price is already £109,905 – extremely dear even compared to rivals.
Our conclusion earlier in the year was we preferred the Alfa Romeo Stelvio both on styling, driving dynamics and price.
The Grecale uses the same platform as the Alfa and that goes for the Folgore as well, which means that unlike several rivals, including Lotus’s Eletre EV, the Maserati does not use a platform that was designed specifically for an electric powertrain.
Time for some numbers. The Grecale has two electric motors, one on each axle, and is therefore fourwheel drive.
Combined output is 550bhp and it will do 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds and run to a top speed of 137mph.
German owners will want to refrain from banging along at that sort of speed on autobahns because the car’s battery will soon be flat.
It’s an impressively large 97kWh which gives an official range of 311miles.
The leccy Grecale has a high energy consumption that hovers around 2.4 miles per kWh which results in an actual range of only 235 miles – this, note, in almost perfect EV conditions of around 19°C air temperature. If you wanted to take your 4WD electric Maserati skiing in the Alps you’d better think again. Or leave now.
A Maserati should be an exciting and rewarding car to drive. This one isn’t. The ride isn’t particularly good and a weight of 2,480kg makes it feel unbalanced.
The steering may be light but it is too quick and doesn’t give enough feedback.
The Grecale is very spacious with plenty of room in the back for tall adults and there’s a generous boot.
As mentioned, if you tailor the interior of your choice you can create very plush, appealing surroundings.
The Maserati Grecale Folgore is likely to be a rare sight on British roads. It’s too expensive, its range is too short – and it is likely to suffer from quite dramatic depreciation as most EVs do.
Folgore SUV
Lotus Eletre
This heavy Chinese-made SUV is not most people’s idea of a Lotus.
Porsche Macan Turbo Electric