Maserati Grecale Folgore: Expensive but exclusive

Anyone who has driven or heard a Maserati knows that the sound image is an important part of the package. No matter what kind of engine the car has, at the front or in the middle, they have served up serious matters for the ears.

Now are different times. Grecale Folgore is Maserati’s first electric family car. It is a medium-sized SUV, which was shown for the first time in 2022, then with a fossil engine.

Folgore means “lightning” in Italian and is affixed to the brand’s electric cars. This is their second, following the recently launched GranTurismo Folgore GT car.

Grecale is built on the same platform as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, in other words it is not a dedicated electric car platform, but there has still been room for a large 105 kWt battery.

At the same time, it is far from one of the most energy-efficient electric cars on the market, so the range is stated at 481 kilometers.

Sporty luxury

In the brochure it says that the consumption is 2.4 kWh per mile, our experience was that it uses a lot on the motorway, but that it is not impossible to be below the factory figures on normal country roads.

In any case, you want a Maserati on long trips, that’s how it used to be, and that’s how it still is. But without sound, in fact one of the more striking experiences with the Grecale Folgore is that it is quiet, even for an electric car.

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In other words, they will be a quite different experience than before. At the same time, a Maserati is much more than just sound.

It’s a car brand with a pretty pedigree. Sporty luxury that feels closer to Bentley and Ferrari than regular premium brands.

Comfort is basically well taken care of with the low sound level, and a comfortable and digital interior.

In the past, a Maserati had analogue clocks, often with the Maserati logo in the middle, that time is over.

Active driving

Nevertheless, it feels like a lavish interior, with comfortable materials and high perceived quality. However, without the personality that you could feel in previous models.

You notice early on that Maserati wants the Grecale to be a sporty car. The undercarriage is stiff, especially over uneven ground it is excessively tight. It is partly possible to parry by putting the car in “offroad mode”, which means that the damper travel is somewhat longer.

JUSTERE: Kjøremodus kan justeres fra rattet. Knappen i midten av hjulet bestemmer hvor stramt understellet skal være." alt="" />

VENSTRE: Ladeluka er på venstre bakskjerm, dermed er bilen tilpasset Teslas ladere." alt="" />

On smoother surfaces, some of the stiffness is paid back, with a car that lies flat through the corners and feels very stable. Here, there is little doubt that it is a family car that also thrives when driven actively. The steering, which feels a little vague at lower speeds, becomes more direct, and you forget that it is a car that weighs just over 2.5 tonnes.

Practical

In other words, it is not one of these electric cars with lots of power, 558 horsepower, which go straight ahead like a bullet, but kneel in bends. A Maserati that quietly delivers a driving experience that you expect from the brand.

Now let’s not forget that it is also a practical car.

The space in the back seat is very good, and a luggage compartment of 535 liters should be enough for most things. Of slightly less practical things, one can note that there is no room in the front, a frunk, and that there is still a raised floor in the middle behind after the fossil car version. The trailer weight, on the other hand, is perfectly fine, with 1.8 tonnes. Payload of 505 kilograms should also be sufficient.

The range in the real world is a few miles over 40, not brilliant, but you probably need a break before you’ve driven that far, so it shouldn’t interfere with a long trip unnecessarily.

Then there was the Macan, then

At the charging station, it delivers a medium charging speed, 150 kilowatts, but it has a consistently high delivery. All the way up to 70 percent battery capacity, 130 kilowatts of energy were filled, albeit with some dips along the way. This means that the charging time is as good as a car with a high starting speed, and a steadily falling curve.

Of course, there is one problem, which should not come as a big surprise: the price.

That a Maserati is an expensive car is obvious. The starting price is NOK 1,370,000, admittedly with a lot of standard equipment, so it is on a completely different shop shelf than the cars of the same size that have filled up Norwegian roads in recent years.

The only obvious competitor is the Porsche Macan (read the test here), which will arrive in Norway towards the end of the year. In terms of price and performance, the Macan Turbo and Grecale Folgore are on the same shelf.

In many areas the Macan is a better car, for example in terms of handling and charging speed, but even a Porsche feels less refined than a Maserati. And the exclusivity of a Grecale Folgore is maintained by the fact that the Norwegian importer only has access to 60 cars this year.

MODERNE: Grecale har et moderne interiør. De analoge klokkene er historie." alt="" />

PLASS: Det er rikelig med beinplass i baksetet, men bilen har ikke ett flatt gulv." alt="" />

IKKE ENESTE: Grecale Folgore er ikke den eneste elbilen med Maserati-tridenten i fronten. Nylig kom også GT-bilen GranTurismo Folgore." alt="" />

Porsche Macan:

When you need both a family and sports car