2025 Maserati GranCabrio Folgore

Maserati made its most seductive convertible electric, and the magic somehow survived

We have quietly been in love with the GranCabrio ever since it broke cover at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, and the latest generation revealed in early 2024 did nothing to cool that. But this one is different, because the Folgore is fully electric. On paper that sounded like a nightmare: a sublime V8 makes way for a V6, which then makes way for an electric motor? How could that possibly work? Then we thought about what a GranTurismo and GranCabrio are really for, sat down behind the wheel, and started to understand.

Design: identical to the V6, minus the exhausts

Visually the Folgore is all but indistinguishable from the combustion GranCabrio. The only real giveaway is the missing quartet of handsome exhausts at the back, and beyond that you would struggle to tell them apart, which we rather like. This is still one of the most beautiful cars you can buy, from a legendary Italian marque, and going electric has not cost it a shred of that.

Interior: twin screens and a gorgeous wheel

Inside, the cabin is dominated by twin screens, the upper touchscreen handling navigation and media, the lower one taking care of the roof, climate and other functions. Maserati is not the first to split things this way, and some icons are small and fiddly, so all that glass looks a little fussy in an otherwise simple, classy interior. But the graphics and functionality are good, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are present, and you soon learn your way around. The real highlight is the steering wheel: slim, tactile and gorgeous, with big paddles for the brake regeneration modes. Maserati still knows how to make a wheel you want to hold. Putting the drive modes on a wheel-mounted rotary switch is great. Being kicked out of Apple CarPlay every time you change mode is not.

Practicality: a GT that leans on its back seats

This is where the GT badge gets stretched. The boot holds just 131 litres with the roof down, or 172 with it up, enough for a few soft bags and no more, so any proper trip means folding the rear passengers out of the equation and using their space for luggage. You will fit a couple of smaller adults back there, though headroom is tight with the roof up and it gets blustery with it down. It is still comfier than the rear of a Porsche 911, and fine for occasional use, and refinement up front is genuinely impressive even at speed.

Powertrain: absurd, and it works

The numbers belong in a supercar, not a comfortable four-seat GT. Three electric motors serve up 750 hp, with a temporary peak of 830 hp, and a colossal 1,350 Nm sent to all four wheels. That means 0 to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, 0 to 200 in 9.1, and a 290 km/h top speed. It puts the Folgore right in among exotics like the Ferrari 812 GTS and the Mercedes-AMG SL 63 E Performance. It should feel ridiculous in a car like this, and yet it simply works. You can even lower or raise the roof on the move up to 50 km/h, a 16-second close and a 14-second open.

Driving: weight you can feel

The Folgore is far from flawless to drive, because at 2,340 kg the mass is always with you. Ride comfort is decent, but the damping gets reactive over sharper intrusions at low speed, there is noticeable body lean through quicker direction changes, and the fabric roof adds a touch of flex you only really notice if you go looking for it. The steering is light with an expensive-feeling slickness, but it offers little feedback and feels disconnected just as the car loads up mid-corner. Sport and Corsa modes tauten everything and add poise, yet the Folgore never becomes the pointy, playful thing its figures suggest. It is at its best eased along, not attacked.

The paddles that make it engaging

Here is the feature we love most, and it answers a question people still ask: can an electric car be genuinely engaging to drive? We think it can, and the key sits right behind the wheel. Not gearshift paddles, the Folgore's three motors spin to 17,500 rpm, so there is no need for a second or third ratio, but paddles for adjusting the energy recovery on the fly. That matters more than it sounds. You can cut the regen to a minimum to coast cleanly towards the next corner, then dial the motor braking back in to scrub speed and start shifting the car's weight into the turn. With a heavy EV, whose mass sits in a completely different place to a petrol, diesel or hybrid, that control is a huge part of the art of hustling it along. It turns the Folgore from a fast car into an involving one.

Range and charging: the one real compromise

The Folgore uses the same 92.5 kWh battery as the GranTurismo Folgore, with 83 kWh usable, for up to 449 km on the WLTP cycle. That is short for a grand tourer, and it is the car's clearest weakness. Charging helps, at up to 270 kW you can go from 20 to 80 per cent in around 18 minutes, or add roughly 100 km in five. Honestly, though, we made a strange peace with the range. When you are parked at a charger staring at one of the prettiest cars money can buy, and swapping notes with other EV drivers about how special it is, the wait somehow bothers you less than it should.

AutoNext Verdict

Anyone hoping for the rasp of a V6 or the rumble of a V8 with the roof down needs to leave their preconceptions at the door. The GranCabrio Folgore is a gloriously smooth, elegant way to enjoy a convertible, a very 21st-century way to make the most of a bit of climate change.

It is not the sharpest-handling car, and the extra weight is the reason, but it offers something genuinely unique. This is a car for Miami, the south of France or the Italian lakes rather than a cold British motorway, yet even in winter it charms, with a level of refinement and finish that suits a GT perfectly.

The styling is gorgeous, the cabin is smart and the whole thing is beautifully polished. It is just a shame it does not have the range to match the ambition. Get that right, and this would be close to unbeatable as an electric GT convertible.