Ferrari May Use Electric Motors for All-Wheel-Drive

There have been rumors (and even leaked patents) of Ferrari’s hybrid-electric all-wheel-drive system, but until now, the system had not been confirmed. Senior corporate sources recently confirmedthat Ferrari is indeed working on an electric all-wheel-drive system for use in its GT cars.

Autocar claims that the all-wheel-drive system will use two electric motors mounted inboards of the front wheels.Unlike most automakers using electric motors for fuel economy, Ferrari will likely aim to use such propulsion to help improve the handling of its front-engine, rear-wheel-drive GT cars. In theory, the motors can provide different amounts of torque to each front wheel, essentially acting like a limited-slip differential, and help pull the car through corners.

Even though work is being done on the system, Autocar says such a system won’t be ready until at least 2014. The magazine also claims such a system will be available on the 612 Scaglietti’s replacement,but will beunavailable at the car’s launch. This quells the rumors about the system possibly debuting on Ferrari’s Enzo successor, which is due sometime in 2012.

Source: Autocar