Ferrari 488 Pista 2019: Hybrid version to smash sanity barrier

When does a road car with 530kW and 700Nm need more power? When it is a Ferrari, of course.

Yes, putting aside logic and quite sensible fears about how much the human body can take, the famously speed-mad Italians have announced they will unveil an even more ridiculous version of the 488 Pista, with a hybrid drivetrain, later this year.

The Pista - the already uprated version of the 488 GTB - can hit 200km/h from a standing start in 7.6 seconds, and has a top speed in excess of 340km/h, but the new, truly electrifying version, confirmed by Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri this week, will shatter even those titanic figures.

The as-yet-unnamed hypercar will sit at the very pinnacle of Ferrari’s sports-car range and will feature a 3.9-litre V8 and at least one electric motor, but possibly as many as four (one for each wheel, perhaps, although all-wheel drive is not something their sports cars usually offer).

The car, to be unveiled at a special event later this year rather than the Geneva Motor Show, will begin deliveries to customers (who have clearly gone bonkers) in early 2020, and it will be part of the company’s “regular lifecycle”, according to Camilleri, meaning it is no one-off, or special-edition model.

It will be the company’s second go at using hybridisation, a technique it has been perfecting at its Formula One team through the use of KERS, after the V12 La Ferrari, released back in 2013.

While hybrid tech might still be a novelty at Ferrari, it is very much the future, Camilleri explained, confirming in an earnings call with industry analysts that a whopping 60 per cent of its product portfolio will offer hybrid variants by 2022.

In even more shocking news, the world’s most operatic and shouty car company will also offer a full-electric, and thus silent, Ferrari some time after 2022, Camilleri confirmed.

You can bet there’ll be a hybrid version of the upcoming Puronsangue SUV, which was announced last September. Camilleri said the reaction to Ferrari building an SUV has been very positive.

"It is a segment that's clearly growing," he said. "A lot of our customers would love to have a Purosangue to use on a daily basis."

Does the world need a more powerful Ferrari 488 Pista? Tell us what you think in the comments below.