Maserati Is Testing Its First EV Powertrain In A Gran Turismo, And It Sounds Like This

There’s a case for calling the Maserati Gran Turismo the best-sounding production car in history. At the very least its 4.7-litre, naturally-aspirated V8 has a solid place it in the top 5.

Internal combustion purists, then, might be a little miffed to find out that the body of the recently discontinued GT is being used by Maserati as a test mule for its first-ever electric powertrain. Isn’t that like taking a van Gough off the wall and replacing it with a screen displaying something you drew in MS Paint?

Not necessarily - this is Maserati. The Italian brand is fully aware that its cars are supposed to sound brilliant, and even as it starts to make the transition to electric power, that’s still on the agenda.

The company says that its electric cars will make “a distinctive signature sound”. To give us some idea of how that’ll pan out, there’s a new video which you can see (and hear) above.

Maserati has prepared several “experimental vehicles” at its ‘Innovation Lab’ in Modena, which will pave the way for electric versions of the next Gran Turismo and Gran Cabrio. The ‘MMXXI’ reference in the video refers to 2021 in Roman numerals, to give you some idea of when we’ll first see the plug-in Gran Turismo.

Internal combustion engines will still be on the agenda for a while, with hybridised powertrains - including one that’ll be slotted into Maserati’s new mid-engined sports car - currently in development.