Maserati Ghibli Hybrid: keeping up with the Joneses

Everyone’s going green, but can Maserati really manage it with the Ghibli Hybrid? Chris Carter reports

Maserati Ghibli Hybrid
(Image credit: Maserati Ghibli Hybrid)

The Ghibli Hybrid 2021 is Maserati’s first-ever electrified vehicle and “I’m sitting here like a Spurs fan after a dreadful first half, hoping against expectation for a change in fortune”, says Andrew English in The Daily Telegraph. “Somehow you want this car, named after the dusty Libyan wind which blows down from the highlands to the Mediterranean, to actually live up to the promise of the marque. Yet few modern Maseratis have managed this. Is this Ghibli saloon the one to break a series of ducks?”.

Well, it’s certainly fast enough. The electric motor only really “adds a shoulder to the wheel” to the two-litre, turbo-charged petrol engine, meaning the Ghibli’s sonorous V6 has given way to a horrible-sounding if clever and “surprisingly adept” engine that should keep the EU’s emissions bureaucrats happy, if not fans of Maserati’s racing heritage and “ultra-cool” name. But the performance is respectable – the near two-tonne saloon can go from rest to 62mph in just 5.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 158mph. And the car looks as great as ever, with “sleek and flowing lines” outside and an interior that showcases “the artisan craft of leather trim”. Still, it’s doubtful this will be enough to please buyers shelling out £63,700 and seeking the genuine Maserati experience.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.