Maserati has a reputation to rebuild. The brand has long been hamstrung by its questionable build quality and historically haphazard management – but the GranTurismo Folgore proves the brand wants to be taken seriously in the luxury car game.

The Folgore’s wild power output, immense top speed, impressive driving dynamics and arsenal of (largely optional) technology shows the Italian brand doesn’t just want to build electric cars. It wants to build the best electric cars. There’s no time to lose, either, because Maserati has already committed to producing its final petrol car in 2028. That means it has a scant three years to construct a new reputation for EV excellence.

For now, the Folgore (meaning ‘lightning’ in Italian) is being sold alongside a V6-powered version of the GranTurismo. Both cars are based on the same underpinnings, but the EV gets a clever three-motor powertrain, a reworked suspension setup and a massive battery where the standard car’s gearbox and differential would be.

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The two cars are quite difficult to set apart visually, but the tweaks are there if you look for them. The Folgore has a different grille, bronze badging and a model-specific set of three-spoke alloy wheels. Oh, and the rear diffuser doesn’t have any exhausts poking out of it.

Petrol competitors include the Aston Martin DB12 and Bentley Continental GT but, in the electric car world, the Folgore has the market to itself – at least for now. The question is, should you take a chance on the GranTurismo, or would you be better off waiting for one of its more reputable rival brands to get into the electric car game?

Scroll down to find out. I’ll walk you through the GranTurismo Folgore’s interior, practicality, performance, driving dynamics and electrical efficiency before offering my final verdict on the car. If you’d like to learn more about how I arrived at the opinions I’ll express in this review, head over to our how we test cars explainer page.

What’s it like inside?

Despite its protests, Maserati still hasn’t managed to iron out its build quality issues. I’ve complained about the GranTurismo’s naff switchgear in my review of the petrol-powered car, so I won’t repeat myself here. But I found a far worse quality problem in the Folgore.

There’s a plastic trim panel in the footwell at the leading edge of the door aperture. It’s supposed to hide the carpet border but, on my car, it didn’t sit flush with the bodywork. This presented a problem because, when I stood on the accelerator, my foot locked into the underside of the ill-fitting panel and prevented me from lifting off the pedal.

I spent five years at university studying English, so I reckon I’m qualified enough to confirm there’s scarcely enough variety in our language to adequately describe the sheer terror of piloting a 731hp, 2.3-tonne, £200,000 land barge down a narrow, rutted country lane with a throttle that’s stuck wide open. Plenty of four-letter words came to mind, none of which I can repeat here without being hauled in front of my editor.

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It isn’t good enough, Maserati. Porsche can nail its cars together properly, yet it manages to sell them to for less money. You can have a millimetrically perfect 911 Carrera for half the price of a GranTurismo Folgore. Or, if you’re certain you want to own an electric car, the cheapest Taycan starts from £86,500 – and if you want a Taycan that can keep pace with the Folgore, you’ll only need to spend £117,500 on a GTS.

It isn’t particularly spacious, either. You can get adults in the rear seats, but they won’t be happy back there on any journey of more than 10 miles. Plus, the Folgore’s battery eats into the GranTurismo’s boot capacity. The standard car has 310 litres of space, while the EV makes do with just 270. That’s barely enough for a couple of small suitcases, especially once you’ve allocated the space you need for the car’s charging cables.

Comfort

This is where Maserati must excel. A grand tourer needs to be comfortable and, thankfully, the brand has done a good job. The front seats are wide and accommodating, yet they offer plenty of adjustment (including one of the largest lumbar support cushions I’ve yet encountered on a car) to prevent you from cramping up on the motorway.

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The steering wheel also telescopes out of the dashboard a long way, which means even tall drivers won’t be over-reaching for it. Visibility isn’t bad, but the view out of the rear three quarter window is basically non-existent. That means it can be tricky to check your blind spots at tight junctions.

Safety 

Unsurprisingly, considering how much each car costs, the GranTurismo hasn’t been crash tested by Euro NCAP. However, because it’s based on the same underpinnings as the Alfa Romeo Giulia, it should hold up well in an accident. The Alfa scored five stars when it was assessed in 2016 – and the testers were impressed by how well it protected its occupants.

Maserati has been a little cheap with the GranTurismo’s safety equipment, however. If you want tech such as lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring, you’ll need to spend £3,600 on the firm’s advanced driver assistance pack 1. If you want all the safety equipment the company offers, you’re looking at a bill for £5,160.

In fairness, I certainly didn’t miss the technology during my time with the GranTurismo – but there are plenty of drivers who would. Just be prepared to factor that cost in.

Electric motors

The Folgore sits at the top of the GranTurismo line-up and, as a result, it’s by far the most powerful. I’ll contextualise the difference in performance with some statistics. The top spec combustion model’s 3.0-litre V6 churns out 550hp and 650Nm of torque. But the Folgore’s three electric motors serve up an enormous 761hp and 1,350Nm of torque.

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That monstrous amount of poke can shunt the car from 0–62mph in 2.7 seconds and, if you have a long enough stretch of (unrestricted) road, it’ll hit top out at 202mph. That makes it one of the fastest electric cars on sale. To go quicker in an EV, you’d need to spend even more money on an electric hypercar.

Range and charging

The GranTurismo Folgore is powered by a 92.5kWh battery pack, which is an impressive feat considering it isn’t even built on a dedicated electric car platform. Cleverly, Maserati mounted the battery in a T-shaped configuration, utilising the now empty space between the rear axles and along the transmission tunnel.

Maserati claims the battery will provide a maximum range of 275 miles and, on a steady motorway jaunt, we found that to be surprisingly accurate. We averaged 2.8 miles per kWh on a speedy run up the A1, which equates to a real-world range of around 250 miles.

That might not sound like much for a grand tourer but, in fairness, you shouldn’t really be driving for more than 250 miles at a time without stopping for a break – giving you an ideal opportunity to charge it up. And because the Folgore has an 800V electrical architecture (like the Porsche Taycan and Kia EV9), you won’t need to wait around for very long.

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The GranTurismo has a maximum DC charge rate of 270kW. That means a 10 to 80% is theoretically possible in less than 20 minutes. To frame that performance differently, you can add 62 miles of range in just five minutes at a suitably quick public charger.

We were very impressed by the Folgore’s charging speeds. Even when the battery had reached 80% capacity (which is where most EVs slow their rate of charge), it was still pulling more than 100kW from the Gridserve charger we’d connected it to.

What’s it like to drive?

Brutally fast. But, with 1,350Nm of torque available the second you flex your big toe, that didn’t come as much of a surprise. What impressed me the most was how smooth the acceleration is. Crank up the dimmer switch on a Tesla Model S Plaid and the motors will mash you into your seat like you’ve just been rear-ended by a wagon. It makes you feel quite ill after a couple of goes.

But Maserati has added a dash of electronic damping to the pedal to smooth out the acceleration and make the performance enjoyable rather than assaulting. That means you’re inclined to use it more often.

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There’s also more to the GranTurismo than outright speed. It handles well, which I wasn’t prepared for considering how much more weight it’s carrying over the petrol-powered car. Maserati’s air suspension does an admirable job of controlling the car’s bulk and, because you’ve got four-wheel drive, you can safely boot it out corners without any fear of the rear wheels swapping ends with the front.

You get four driving modes to play with, called Max Range, GT, Sport and Corsa. The first is self-explanatory. GT softens off the damping and dulls the accelerator response to make the GranTurismo more relaxing on the motorway. Sport tightens up the suspension and sharpens the motor response, while Corsa backs off the safety assists and gives you the freedom to slide the rear around like a rally driver. It’s an exceptional breadth of ability.

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Interestingly, the Folgore also rides a lot better than the petrol-powered GranTurismo. It’s 465kg heavier, but the weight is spread more evenly around the chassis and the damping is better matched to the car’s weight. Both cars are smooth on the motorway, but the Folgore doesn’t crash over potholes like the V6. It’s much more comfortable on a B-road.

What models and trims are available?

The Folgore is the top-spec model in the GranTurismo range – and, with a starting price of £179,990, it’s almost £30,000 more expensive than the fastest petrol-powered Trofeo variant. That’s a big difference, especially when you consider how good the Trofeo is.

Plus, you can quickly inflate that figure by delving into Maserati’s extensive (and expensive) options list. Some highlights include a £2,380 carbon fibre trim package, a £3,360 Sonus 19-speaker stereo, the £2,700 you can spend on white brake callipers and the staggering £30,000 Maserati charges for some of its ‘Fuoriserie’ paint finishes.