Ferrari strengthens its expertise in batteries, but does not plan to manufacture them – April 08, 2024 at 12:37

Ferrari wants to increase its expertise in the field of battery cells, given their importance in the transition to electric cars, but has no intention of manufacturing them itself, its CEO Benedetto Vigna announced on Monday.

The Italian luxury car maker has been selling hybrid electric cars since 2019 and has promised its first electric car by the end of next year. Ferrari, which sold fewer than 14,000 cars last year, may not have the scale to profitably produce its cells.

“We want to open the cell and understand what’s inside it,” Vigna said at the opening of the battery cell research center in collaboration with Italy’s University of Bologna and chipmaker NXP Semiconductors.

“Production will always be carried out by foreign producers, considering the knowledge that we expect to get thanks to this research center,” said Mr. Vigna time to submit.

“We can’t afford to think of cells as black boxes,” he added.

The E-Cells Laboratory focuses on electrochemistry and aims to strengthen Ferrari’s long-standing expertise in battery cells, which it buys from external suppliers.

“We will use more and more cells and we will need to know the chemistry,” Mr Vigna said.

E-Cells Labs will initially focus on liquid-state lithium cells, but is willing to move into new chemistries and technologies, although Vigna said he is not considering solid-state batteries as a real option at this time. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Alexander Smith)