Why Ferrari’s electric car might have the answer to EV depreciation
Battery ageing brings performance, range and residual values down over time, but Ferrari might just have come up with a solution
A Ferrari is a ‘forever’ car, according to the brand, and whether first buyers keep them forever or not, the chances are that they will stay on the road (or in a collection), for much longer than just about anything else – over 90 per cent of its cars are still around today. Now it’s producing a pure-electric model with the Elettrica, will that remain that case?
Ferrari believes so, as it’s developed the battery for this car specifically with this in mind. Where the majority of EVs are most concerned about peak power and range, Ferrari has also taken into account serviceability – for a car with such high levels of performance and a huge 122kWh capacity, that’s quite a feat.
> The Ferrari Elettrica will be a practical electric four-door with hypercar power
As opposed to cramming as many individual cells under the floor as possible with a ‘cell-to-pack’ system, Ferrari sacrificed some capacity by opting for a modular design. The benefits are strong though, with it able to service and replace specific modules should any experience unusual ageing over time – in a cell-to-pack system or a modular system not designed to be serviceable, the car would require an entirely new pack at a higher cost.
Reducing the cost of battery maintenance makes this a better system for customers, but it’s also considerably better for the environment. Sending 600kg of battery to landfill is never a great thing, but disposing of an entire car is also something to be avoided. In theory, this does just that.
A serviceable, modular system isn’t unique to Ferrari, but what makes this system truly unique is that it’s developed and built in-house. This opens the door to in-house future proofing, with Ferrari able to make long-term upgrades part of the pipeline from the get-go. As it already has done developing upgrades for LaFerrari’s battery based on F80 battery tech, it will develop new modules to fit within the Elettrica’s existing housing when new and improved battery chemistry becomes available, improving range and peak performance – this could well come decades into the future, but should future proof its models indefinitely.
Hopefully for new buyers, this should also give the Ferrari Elettrica some chance of retaining a good portion of its original value. The same certainly can’t be said for every other performance EV we’ve seen to date…
