Ferrari’s fastest car ever is a plug-in hybrid electric, but charging it could be tricky

Ferrari, the Italian maker of some of the sleekest and fastest sports cars on the planet, has unveiled images of its fastest production car ever – and it boasts a plug-in hybrid electric powertrain.

The SF90 Stradale’s striking design, smooth in typical Ferrari style, is built to create a vortex around the supercar as it flies down the highway.

With a maximum speed of 340km/h, Ferrari says the Stradale can accelerate from 0-100 kilometres in just 2.5 seconds, or 0.4 seconds faster than Ferrari’s 812 Superfast.

That’s impressive, but even though the plug-in hybrid Stradale “supercar” has two electric motors under the bonnet and another in the back delivering 162kW of power, its 7.9kWh battery capacity means it can only go 25km (according to Ferrari) under zero emissions power.

And then there’s the position of the charging plug – just in front of the rear right wheel well.

Seriously? While many PHEVs (and some BEVs) do position their charging ports in a similar spot to the fuel cap, EVs commonly have a charging port at the front of the vehicle, making it easy to pull up at a destination or fast-charger if required.

This is a Ferrari – who wants to risk scratching the carefully polished sheen by dragging a charging cable around the side?

No doubt Ferrari don’t count on owners doing a great deal of charging though – the tiny 7.9kWh battery doesn’t offer a great deal of range, and would perhaps recover range mostly through regenerative braking.

Why add a charging outlet at all then?

While it can’t be forgotten that it still is mostly powered by a V8 3990CC combustion engine, we still think that the addition of a PHEV powertrain is at least a step in the right direction for the Italian stallion.

According to Ferrari, the integration of an electrified powertrain into its super car design required a significant amount of dynamics research to ensure it met its high standards.

“The exceptional work done to boost the power unit’s power would have all been in vain without in-depth dynamics research and the development of a whole series of solutions to boost the SF90 Stradale’s lap times, whilst simultaneously guaranteeing that drivers of all kinds could make full use of the car’s potential and have fun behind the wheel,” the carmaker writes in regard to making sure the Stradale lives up to Ferrari’s reputation.

In order to integrate the hybrid architecture into the Stradale, Ferrari developed a new specialised system it calls “electronic Slip Slide Control”.

This encapsulates electric traction control to distribute torque to all wheels, a brake-by-wire control split between the traditional hydraulic braking system and the regenerative braking system, as well as “torque vectoring” to manage traction on the inner and outer edges of the wheels.

In addition to the standard option sleek supercar styling, Ferrari are also offering an “Assetto Fiorano” GT style option for those after extreme performance and handling.