Ferrari's 1,000-Horsepower Hybrid is Coming

Mark your calendars. Save the date. Do whatever it takes to have an open schedule on May 31. That’s the day the entire auto industry stops completely and turns its attention towards Maranello to see Ferrari’s new hybrid hypercar for the first time. Not much is known about the machine at the moment, but Ferrari did confirm, though a digital save-the-date invitation, that the new hybrid hypercar will have almost 1,000 horsepower at its disposal. The new Ferrari hypercar is the second of five new models that the Italian automaker is unveiling this year. The first model, the 710-horsepower F8 Tributo, made its debut at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Brace yourselves, people. Ferrari has a new showstopper in its hands.

Ferrari Hybrid Hypercar Debut Date

No automaker can cause a stir quite like Ferrari. When the Italian automaker makes an announcement, everyone stops and listens. That’s exactly what we’re in store for when May 31 rolls around because Ferrari is hosting the world debut of its latest masterpiece. Mind you; we’re not just talking about a supercar here. We’re talking about a 1,000-horsepower mind bender the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

As expected, Ferrari is keeping a tight lid on details about this new exotic, as it should. The mysterious new vehicle is expected to sit as the automaker’s latest pièce de résistance. You’re going to want to keep as much info about it to yourself if you want to stoke the flames of hype and excitement. Then again, nobody flexes like Ferrari, either. CEO Louis Camilleri took up the opportunity to do so, calling the new model a “top-of-the-line hybrid with supercar performance and a true beauty.”

So, we know it’s a hybrid. Camilleri made that poignantly clear. Everything else, though, is still cloaked in mystery. Numerous reports from all across Carsteros have indicated that the mysterious Ferrari will use a new hybrid system that includes a V-8 engine. Is it possible that the F8 Tributo’s 3.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine is the engine in question here? It’s worth noting, too, that if Ferrari does use a V-8, it would represent a shift from the hybrid system that powered its last hypercar, the Ferrari LaFerrari. Maranello’s first hypercar used a different hybrid setup on the back of a V-12 engine. Perhaps Ferrari has found a formula that allows it to create a more powerful hybrid powertrain while also limiting the receipts Mother Nature plans to keep. That appears to be the case judging by how much power — close to 1,000 horsepower, according to Ferrari — this new hypercar is expected to have at its disposal. Maranello’s resident engineers certainly have a lot of room to work with to achieve that output. The aforementioned V-8 engine already produces 710 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque for the F8 Tributo. Combine that with at least two or maybe even three electric motors and the potential output of this new hypercar could easily exceed 1,000 horsepower.

That’s one of the many exciting possibilities that we’re all facing now that we know Ferrari’s plans on May 31. No details have come out on the hypercar’s looks or even its name, so those are other elements that are worth the expected restless nights as we count down the days towards the end of the month. Who knows, Ferrari might even throw in an unexpected swerve at the last second. At this point, all possibilities are on the table for the Italian automaker. Well, maybe almost all possibilities.

We can tell you that an all-electric Ferrari isn’t a part of the automaker’s near future. Roadshow learned as much in an interview with Ferrari CTO Miguel Hugo Leiters, who said that Ferrari is still waiting for the right time to roll out is electrification plans. "We are talking about sound; we are talking about weight," he said. "These are our two key elements on a battery car that are not fitting right now for Ferrari. Are we studying it? Yes, we are studying it, but right now, we are not taking any decision." For now, all signs point to Ferrari’s grand EV debut to come sometime in 2022. Still, it must be fun to have the entire auto industry eating from the palm of your hands.

And to make things even more interesting, the new Ferrari hypercar isn’t the last new Ferrari we’ll see this year. Current plans call for five new models to debut in 2019. We already bore witness to the first one when the Ferrari F8 Tributo made a resounding debut at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show in March. Now we’re two weeks away from seeing the second of these five debuts. From there, three more new Ferraris are scheduled to arrive at different points in the latter half of the year. Two of these models, according to Camilleri, are scheduled to debut around September, in time for the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. Meanwhile, the last of the five new models will arrive “toward the end of the year.” Exciting times for Ferrari? That’s the understatement of the year.

For now, we can’t worry about what already arrived and what’s yet to come in the second half of the year. Ferrari wants our focus to be on the end of the month when its new hypercar — don’t call it a successor to the LaFerrari, by the way — makes its world debut, and we’re more than happy to oblige.

So, if it wasn't clear before, we'll make it clear again. Ferrari is "daring us to imagine" as it prepares to debut its all-new hybrid hypercar on May 31. Then again, you don't have to tell us twice, Ferrari. Once is enough. Our imaginations are already on overdrive.

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