Maserati takes the fight to Tesla with all-electric Alfieri

Maserati has announced a new range of electric cars for the next five years, spearheaded by its Tesla-rivalling Alfieri supercar.

During a conference held by the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the parent company of the Italian car firm, Maserati chief Timothy Kuniskis said the Alfieri will be offered with an all-electric powertrain capable of launching the vehicle from 0-62mph in two seconds, Auto Express reports.

That would place the Alfieri’s acceleration times on a par with the forthcoming Tesla Roadster and around 1.5 seconds faster than Porsche’s debut into the EV market: next year’s Mission E four-door coupe.

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Other performance details are thin on the ground. Autocar, however, says the Alfieri, which first appeared at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, is slated to come with a top speed of 186mph and will be built on an all-new aluminium production platform.

A plug-in hybrid variant will also be available, the magazine says, which will probably be powered by the Ferrari-developed 3.0-litre V6 engine that is currently found in the Maserati Levante SUV.

Joining the Alfieri in the electrified line-up will be hybrid versions of the company’s Ghibli and Quattroporte saloons, along with a revamped version of the Levante crossover, says Motor1.

A larger SUV is also on the cards, the motoring site says, which will come with a plug-in hybrid powertrain and a 50:50 weight distribution to improve handling.

The announcements suggest that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is turning Maserati into a electric car brand, says Top Gear, in a bid to get the leg up on German rivals Mercedes and Audi.

Electrified versions of the two saloons and Levante SUV may arrive over the next year or two, but the all-electric Alfieri isn’t expected to arrive until 2022.