Ferrari CEO pushes back expectations on EV until after 2025

MARANELLO, Italy -- Ferrari will not have its first full-electric model ready until after 2025 because the battery technology requires more development, CEO Louis Camilleri said, pushing back expectations.

Ferrari had previously said that its challenger to Tesla at the high end of the EV market would be available only after the current industrial plan ends in 2022.

Analysts said they had not expected it before 2023, but the latest comments suggest an actual launch could be further off.

"The battery technology is not where it should be yet," Camilleri told reporters at the Centro Stile at Ferrari's Maranello factory.

"There are still significant issues in terms of autonomy, in terms of speed of recharging. So eventually we will come out with one. But it's post-2025. Not in the short term," he said.

Camilleri said Ferrari was "certainly" studying a full-electric grand tourer car (GT), but that it would stick to hybrid vehicles for the "current foreseeable future.

Earlier this year Ferrari unveiled the SF 90 Stradale, its first hybrid car in series-production.

Ferrari wants 60 percent of its cars sold by 2022 to be hybrids.

Camilleri said the automaker was also considering alternative technologies for its cars, including hydrogen and biofuels.

"We are looking at various powertrains and trying to see what would be the most efficient and effective in terms of what our vision is for Ferrari cars in the future," he said.

Last month Ferrari raised its guidance for this year's core earnings to 1.27 billion euros ($1.4 0 billion) and said it expects a strong performance in 2020.

"We are about to close another record year, we did pretty well on all the metrics, volume, revenues, income, cash flow. So you'll see a lot of smiling faces around here," Camilleri said.