Maserati can make amazing cars, so why doesn’t the Grecale Folgore feel like a step forward?

The Maserati Grecale Folgore doubles up on its non-Maserati characteristics. As an electric SUV, it’s probably further from most people’s perception of this most evocative and esoteric of the Italian sporting luxury brands. But perception and reality have always been at odds in Maserati’s world. Throughout its 102-year history, the company has alternated between punching well above its weight and suffering catastrophic slumps in sales and ideas.

Although the ship ought to have been steadied under the current ownership of Stellantis, the Maserati name continues to be the loose ballast rolling about in the cargo hold, its capricious nature failing to lure in vital customers. Historically, nothing could ever be truly relied upon in Maserati’s world. For true enthusiasts, this unpredictability and eccentricity was a feature, not a bug. For Stellantis’ accounting division, it’s a headache.

The Grecale is Maserati’s small SUV, what should be a sales bright spot in a market growing ever more averse to upmarket saloon cars and sporting GTs. Since the discontinuation of the larger Levante SUV in 2024, it’s currently the marque’s only traditional 'day-to-day' car.

It sits at the bottom of the line-up, below the elegant GranTurismo and GranCabrio, a true four-seater GT that’s available in both electrified and V6-powered form, as well as confusing scattering of beautiful mid-engined cars, starting with the MC20 and now including the uprated and streamlined MCPURA.

The Grecale is also on sale with a conventional V6, as well as a 4-cylinder mild hybrid. In such a fractured industry landscape, this scattergun approach is by no means unique to Maserati, especially as it has all the tech heft of the wider Stellantis Group to draw on, But it also symptomatic of a more Maserati-specific issue, in that this is a company with a colossal weight of expectation to live up to.

The Grecale Folgore (‘lightning’) is undeniably a little bit idiosyncratic. With a minimum range of around 264 miles, it’s no long-legged grand tourer. Fast charging (150kW) takes the edge off but overall the car falls to reach the c400 mile mark that is becoming more and more common, especially amongst newer generation electric cars. Not quite a GT, certainly not a sports car, it's also a bit big for everyday use around town.

The Grecale's mix of high and low tech is compounded by the large, folded flat screen arrangement in the centre console. Set beneath the traditional centrally mounted analogue Maserati clock, this space is a wasteland for lovers of physical buttons. It takes away some of the crucial tactile engagement with the car.

At the same time, Maserati is doubling down on material quality, engaging its Fuoriserie department to come up with three interior configurations, Premium Pelle Ghiaccio, Sport Leather Nero/Rosso and Sport Leather Nero/Giallo. The tradition of Italian leather, prominent stitching and patterns is alive and well.

It’s not surprising that special editions and unique customer specifications get so much attention, as these have proved to be one of the most lucrative parts of the luxury sector. Even so – and despite the recent launch of limited editions like the Maserati Grecale Lumina Blu and Grecale Cristallo – there’s still a gulf between investing a bit extra to personalise a 100K family SUV versus a 300K supercar.

That puts a lot on the Grecale’s well-sculpted shoulders. Recently updated for 2026, the Grecale is a great car and, as the Folgore, a great electric car. Its main competitors are Porsche’s Macan EV and the Lotus Eletre, which are both notable outliers from their respective brand identities. The competence of all three implies that it’s customers, rather than designers, engineers and product planners, who have a problem with the idea of elevated sporting electric luxury.

Just as the rise and eventual dominance of regular, gas-guzzling SUVs confounded the purists, their electric equivalents are the new line in the sand. Many of the big names in sporting luxury haven’t yet dared step across it – Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ferrari, etc. That's about to change, as both Ferrari and Bentley are on the cusp of launching their first EVs, as well as the long-awaited Jaguar EV, although all of these will be pitched way higher than the Maserati.

For now, the Grecale Folgore feels like a regular EV template adapted to accommodate the Maserati brand, rather than represent it in full effect. Perhaps it’s not a brave enough visual statement, especially when the above trio of debuts will all be placing design at the forefront of their agenda.

A new electrified Maserati is surely waiting in the wings, ready to take flight and bring this most romantic of brands firmly into the modern era. For now, the Folgore could do better.

Maserati Grecale Folgore, as configured £106,425.00, Maserati.com, @Maserati