Ferrari’s first EV may be benchmarked against a Chinese electric super sedan

Ferrari may have pushed back the launch of its second electric vehicle (EV) due to “zero” demand, but that should give the famed Italian brand plenty of time to benchmark it against the world’s latest and greatest EVs.

At the top of that list is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, the Chinese-made battery-electric super sedan which recently topped the Rimac Nevera to set a new Nurburgring lap record for a production EV, and the Porsche Taycan to claim a new four-door lap record at the infamous German circuit.

The high-performance Chinese EV recorded a time of just 7:04.957 seconds around the 20.8km Nordschleife public road course.

It’s unclear whether Ferrari has actually purchased an Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, as some commenters have stated, but a bright yellow example of the battery-powered super sedan has been spotted leaving Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters, as you can see in these images posted to Instagram and Chinese social media website Weibo.

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The SU7 isn’t sold in Italy and this particular vehicle appears to be wearing Italian trade plates, suggesting Ferrari has imported the Chinese EV for research and development purposes.

If so, it would be the first time in Ferrari’s history that a Chinese vehicle has entered Maranello for either R&D or benchmarking purposes.

That makes sense, given the Xiaomi only commenced deliveries of the SU7 Ultra in March and Ferrari is preparing to launch the first EV in its 80-year history.

Tentatively named ‘Elettrica’, the first electric Ferrari will be a limited-edition EV that will debut a new four-door Ferrari body style that looks more like a liftback or shooting brake wagon than the Purosangue SUV.

Already seen in spy shots, Ferrari’s first EV has reportedly been designed in conjunction with Apple’s former chief designer Jony Ive and will be larger than other Ferrari models.

Pricing will apparently start from US$500,000 ($A770,000), and Ferrari expects to sell roughly 700 to 800 per year.

Its powertrain will be revealed in Maranello on October 9, as part of a three-stage global launch for the mould-breaking EV, first customer deliveries of which are due to commence from October 2026.

But Ferrari’s second EV, which has now been delayed by at least two years, is expected to be a higher-volume, high-performance model that will need to offer stratospheric performance to match the SU7 Ultra.

The SU7 Ultra packs a tri-motor powertrain that produces no less than 1138kW of power and 1770Nm of torque – and a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 1.98 seconds.

It also features an advanced thermal management system to cope with sustained high-speed driving, which could be a particular focus for Ferrari.

While Xiaomi plans to sell 10,000 examples of the SU7 Ultra this year alone, Ferrari’s first two EVs will be much more limited.

Following its inaugural limited-edition EV, Ferrari’s subsequent battery-electric vehicle is planned to be a core model that will find 5000 to 6000 buyers during its five-year lifespan.

However, sources at Maranello have told Reuters this second EV, which was initially due to be unveiled at the end of 2026, has been pushed back for a second time and will not make its public debut until 2028 at the earliest.

One of the newswire’s informants said this was due to “zero” long-term, sustained demand for a high-performance EV from Ferrari.

Ferrari isn’t the first Italian performance car brand to change its EV plans, with Maserati axing the electric MC20 supercar before its launch, and Lamborghini delaying its first EV until 2029, when it may actually launch as a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) rather than a fully electric vehicle.

MORE: Everything Ferrari