Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari has unveiled the new 296 GTB, a plug-in hybrid car in an effort to stay relevant in a market that is demanding cleaner vehicles while catering to the changing consumer preferences in the exclusive market for high-performance sports cars.
The Italian carmaker has committed to producing its first full-electric model in 2025. The new 296 GTB follows Ferrari’s earlier attempts in hybrid technology, 2019’s SF 90 Stradale and 2020’s SF90 Spider.
Like its luxury car rivals, the brand represented by the prancing horse logo has been toiling with ideas to adopt battery propulsion units in their cars without losing the extreme performance that carries their premium pricing.
While Porsche, Ferrari’s german competitor has an edge in the electric vehicle segment with its Taycan model. But, the Italian carmaker remains ahead of its arch-rival Lamborghini whose is expected to produce a first full-electric sports car only by the second half of this decade.
The all-new Ferrari 296 GTB outdoors
In its quest to compete in the new era of Electric Vehicles (EV), the luxury carmaker recently roped in technology industry veteran Mr. Benedetto Vigna, a physics graduate who has spent the last 26 years at chipmaker STMicroelectronics, to lead the company as its new chief executive officer.
The All-New 296 GTB
Ferrari is using a 6-cylinder (V6) mid-rear turbo engine for the new 296 GTB sports car, a first for a Ferrari road car. The carmaker had used similar engines in its racing cars in the 1950s.
The Interior view of the all-new Ferrari 296 GTB
While Ferrari is well known for using V8 or more powerful, more polluting V12 engines in it offerings, the V6 engine, coupled with a 122 KW electric motor is capable enough to produce an 830 horsepower for the new two-seater.
