Ferrari Sells More Hybrids Than Not

It was back at the March 2010 Geneva Motor Show that Ferrari hoisted a concept car onto its stand, called the HY-KERS vettura laboratorio. It looked a little slapdash, just a 599 painted green basically, but Ferrari declared that "the technology may one day be fitted to all future Ferraris, 8- and 12-cylinders alike, regardless of their engine position." Well, that day has come.

Ferrari's sales are now 51 percent hybrid in Q3, as the Financial Times reports, up from 43 percent in Q2. It makes sense when you think about it. The front-engine cars in Ferrari's current lineup are non-hybrid: the older Portofino, the Roma, the 812, and the new Purosangue SUV. Meanwhile the midengine stuff, the 296 and its big sibling the SF90, both use hybrid drive. The 296 and SF90 sales are in full swing, while the Purosangue is still ramping up, Reuters reports.

For the most part, hybrids are still the stuff of cabs and family cars here on the streets of Brooklyn, but I get the impression that the dowdy, eco-warrior reputation of the Aughts has faded away. Hybrids are thoroughly mainstream now, and that Ferrari almost seamlessly transitioned to these electrified models only backs that up.

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