Ferrari on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with battery supplier SK On for future battery development.
The two companies will partner to "explore new possibilities and potential solutions to advance cell technology," according to an SK On press release. This is in addition to an existing battery-supply arrangement in place since 2019, which has seen SK On supply batteries for Ferrari plug-in hybrids.
Ferrari SF90 Spider Assetto Fiorano
SK at first supplied batteries for the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and and its open-top SF90 Spider derivative, adding the 296 GTB and 296 GTS in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Prior to that, Ferrari launched a trail balloon for hybrid tech in the form of the limited-edition LaFerrari.
Ferrari executives have discussed hybrids as an alternative to EVs, claiming all-electric models would be too much of a stretch for the brand. In 2016, Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne called the idea of an electric Ferrari "an obscene concept." But in 2018 he changed his mind, saying then that "if there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first.”
Ferrari SF90 Spider
Ferrari is now expected to launch its first EV in 2025, but it's likely to be an SUV rather than a supercar. It's unclear if batteries from that model will come from SK, which has plants in Georgia supplying multiple automakers, as well as a BlueOval SK joint venture in Kentucky that will build cells for next-generation Ford EVs.
Regardless of what batteries will power upcoming electric Ferraris, the brand's boss recently promised in a CNBC interview that "electric cars aren't silent" and that it's working on "sound signatures" for its EVs. Let's hope for something a little more sophisticated than the screaming, vibrating voice that Dodge has prepped for its electric muscle car.
