Maserati Levante ‘Hybrid’ revealed
It’s not a hybrid, but it’s electric enough to wipe diesels from the map for Maserati’s large SUV
But the first hybrid version of the Italian car-maker’s large SUV sits far, far closer to the ‘not electrified’ end of the Maserati pastiche than the EV future the Stellantis luxury brand has mapped out.
Instead of a Toyota Prius-style petrol/electric hybrid system or a plug-in hybrid set-up, Maserati’s first ‘hybrid’ powertrain, as seen in the Ghibli sedan simply mates a four-cylinder petrol engine with a 48-volt integrated starter-generator.
It’s what every other car-maker classifies as a ‘mild-hybrid’, but that’s enough hybridisation for Maserati right now and it’s even enough to lead to the death of the Levante turbo-diesel.